


Misbehavior

by kurochhi



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Abuse, Alternate Universe - High School, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Bullying, Child Abuse, Gen, Howard Stark's A+ Parenting, Hurt Tony Stark, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Insecure Tony, James "Rhodey" Rhodes is a Good Bro, Kid Tony Stark, M/M, Nightmares, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Panic Attacks, Tony Stark Feels, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Tony Stark-centric
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-03
Updated: 2018-07-13
Packaged: 2019-04-17 19:00:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 14
Words: 44,781
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14195646
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kurochhi/pseuds/kurochhi
Summary: Tony Stark wasn't popular among his peers.He was just the spoiled rich kid who had his life handed to him on a silver platter, without a trouble in the world.Oh how wrong they were...ORAn Avengers High-School AU where Tony is abused by Howard and no one seems to notice





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first ever fanfiction, and to be quite honest I wrote this on a spur-of-the-moment kind of thing. I'm a sucker for Tony angst, and I really wanted a certain kind of high-school AU I haven't quite been able to find myself, so I decided to write my own!
> 
> A small warning: there's some strong language and a bit of violence in this chapter, so take that with a grain of salt and enjoy!

Tony is young when it starts. At first, he figured it was something every child had to experience. Something every child deserved for “misbehaving.” 

Howard had always been a busy man, that was nothing new to Tony. But when the time arose for him to show off his first circuit board at the tender age of four, he was no less than pleased to run off and present it to his father. He had expected a similar reaction from which he received from Jarvis; astonished and amazed that such a young child had the capabilities to create something that not even many adults could accomplish.

Tony hadn’t expected what he received. He had hoped that for once in his life, Howard would be proud of him, of what his small mind was able to imagine. He hadn’t expected the first hit.

Tony was sent flying back towards the floor, his creation now a pile of metal and wires on the floor. He didn’t spot the small crystal glass his father was holding. 

“Do you honestly expect me to be impressed by something so useless? What good could you possibly do with that pile of scraps?!” Howard spat out his words.

Too stunned to come up with a proper response, all Tony could do was stutter out a nervous “…U-Uhm...” 

Howard tsked. “Honestly, boy, get out of my sight until you can show me something actually worth my time. I don’t have time to deal with your nonsense.”

The small child, too afraid to look his father in the eye, picked up his mess and scrambled out of the room.

*****

Tony hadn’t tried to show Howard any of his inventions after that incident, his father too caught up in running his company to pay any attention to his son. Instead, he ran up to Jarvis in hopes of getting the approval his small mind desperately craved.

Tony would show him anything and everything. From small robots to large display screens, anything Tony showed Jarvis would earn him a warm smile and a pat on the head. Anything was magic compared to the hard slap he had once received from Howard.

For his attention-starved mind, that was enough.

*****

Anthony had managed to avoid any other incidents with his father after his failed attempt at a circuit board. He figured that he had done something wrong, so he must have deserved being ignored by Howard. A passing thought even made him think that he had overreacted to being hit; it must be a normal thing to do to children when they misbehave.

How he misbehaved, he still wasn’t sure. But he assumed that if he didn’t even know why he was hit, that was the problem. Perhaps that was why Howard never spared him a passing glance.

By the time Tony was seven, he worked up enough courage to confront Howard about an idea for a new piece of robotics. The idea was to create a robot like a pet dog in every aspect, the only difference is that his bot wouldn’t need the intensive care a regular dog needed. No mess and no poor behavior.

Tony thought his father would at least be intrigued by the idea, as he knew Howard was never one to give attention to creatures that desperately needed it. (Could Tony be referring to himself? Honestly, he wasn’t sure. There seems to be a lot of things he’s unsure of when it comes to himself.)

He had been planning out this bot for months, and he already had the blueprints for his first prototype. Tony was rather proud of how authentic he knew his robo-dog would act. He had designed it, after all. Less than perfection was unacceptable.

Tony took his time reaching Howard’s lab. Last time, he had been too excited, too fast. He thought maybe he was hit because of his eagerness. That kind of behavior was only suited for a child, and Tony was _seven_! Far too old to act like that. No wonder his father had been so angry.

Clutching the blueprints to his small chest, the brown-eyed boy stepped into his father’s lab.

“D-dad? I have something important to show you…” He started out nervously. Howard’s head snapped towards him, almost shocked to see his son in his presence.

Now with Howard’s attention, Tony spoke with more confidence. “I’ve been working on a new bot. It’s meant to behave just like a regular dog, except without the mess or responsibility a real dog would have. I think it’d really benefit Stark Industries to have more things suited for public use, instead of mainly military.”

Howard continued to stare, not uttering a word.

Tony took that as motivation to continue. He held out his blueprints, silently hoping his father would take them.

He did. Tony counted that as a small victory.

Howard unfurled the length of the paper, revealing the prototype Tony had spent countless sleepless nights perfecting. 

Tony could feel his palms grow sweaty. The anticipation of waiting for Howard’s response was gut-wrenching. His confidence wavered. “Dad? Do you think this would be useful?” The silence that followed was terrifying. 

He should have expected the first slap. (Tony tried calculating what he did wrong. He couldn’t come up with an answer.) His head snapped to the side and he could already feel a bruise being to form along his delicate cheekbone. 

Tony threw a hand up to his face, staring up as Howard made his way towards him.

“Anthony Edward Stark,” Tony gulped. The use of his full name was never a good sign. “What the fuck is going on through that dull head of yours? A robot dog? What do you take me for?! This company is only as successful as it is because of my weapons, not from your damn science projects! Do you want to see all of Stark Industries crash and burn?!”

“N-no! I just thought… I thought that we could do more than making weapons-!” Howard now loomed over him, backing him into a corner while Tony hopelessly tried to make himself appear smaller. It didn’t work.

“You are a fool, Anthony, if you think you will ever be able to create anything worth my time. Look at you, already seven years old and still running through life like a _child_.” Howard punched him in the stomach several times. Tears pricked the young Stark’s eyes, and he began to feel nauseous.

"Are you _crying_?!" Howard was now seething, a crazed look in his eyes as he continued to beat the helpless boy. “Stark men are made of iron! No son of mine should ever show weakness like that!” After a particularly hard hit to the head, Tony began seeing black spots in his vision. He only just registered his father backing away to grab his forgotten blueprints off the floor and promptly tearing them up right in front of him.

Howard grabbed his son by his collar to stand him up and crouched down to stare at the boy head on. “You are _weak_ , Anthony. You’re an embarrassment I’m forced to call my son. Now get out of my sight.” He shoved the boy towards the door.

Tony, still disoriented from the attack, missed his father turn around and resume drinking an amber liquid from a small glass as if the last ten minutes didn’t just happen.

It took all of the young boy’s strength to wobble out of the lab and into his room, where he promptly began to throw up. He lost track of time as he simply laid pathetically on the floor, only able to pay attention to the constant throbbing in his body.

That was where Jarvis found him. By then, Tony’s face was a mess of dried blood, snot, and tears. He didn’t have the strength to stand up.

Jarvis carefully lifted the small boy up, silently tending to his wounds and knowing exactly where they came from. He may only by a butler, but Jarvis has grown so very fond of this small, fragile boy with a mind so incredible it left him breathless and a heart as strong as gold. He may not be able to constantly protect the child from Howard, but he would do his best to give him the love and attention he knows the boy desperately craves.

Jarvis tucked Tony into his bed, his wounds freshly treated and new bruises beginning to take shape. He would leave young Anthony to rest. After this day, he would need it.

After this incident, “dad” became “Howard,” and Tony vowed to never show that kind of weakness ever again. _Stark men are made of iron_ , after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I may write some more of Tony's early life before I go into the main plot with him and the Avengers in high school, but we'll see!  
> Also I'm not too sure if this will have any relationships or if they'll all just be friends and really protective of Tony. Other characters will also be introduced in later chapters!  
> Let me know what you'd prefer and thank you so much for reading!


	2. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seven years later, nothing has changed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> With the prologue out of the way, it's time to get into how Tony has been coping with Howard's abuse as he's grown older.  
> This chapter mainly focuses on Tony and Jarvis' relationship and routine, and we're getting into how Tony's school life is as well!
> 
> Another warning: There's still some bad language, and some descriptions of abuse but nothing overly graphic. Enjoy!

Tony tried his best not to anger Howard after that. The key word there is _tried_ ; He never knew what he did to prompt the older Stark to beat him. Sometimes Tony believed he was just bored and beating his “son” gave him something to occupy his time with. Howard was good at doing and making things that hurt others, anyways.

Seven years later nothing has changed. The only difference now, Tony thinks, is that he’s older and more able to take being slapped around. He’s still small and short, (Tony’s only _fourteen_! There’s still room for him to grow. At least that’s what he keeps telling himself.) but he’s no longer a naïve and defenseless child.

Thus, Tony finds himself in his current predicament after returning home, which seems to become more of a normality with each passing day. Howard’s tall body looming over him with an unspeakable rage in his eyes.

“Stop flinching, Anthony! Just because you are weak does not mean you can cower away from me!”

Today seemed especially bad. Over the years, Howard learned that the press can be especially tricky. They’re like vultures, flying over your head and waiting until you fall before attacking, then picking away at your scraps. Because of this, he usually avoided beating Tony anywhere that could easily be seen, like his face or forearms, less he wanted to deal with questions from the press.

However that was not the case today, it seemed. Tony mentally cursed his luck. He would have to take extra precaution now to be sure no one at school noticed the large bruises he was sure he could feel already forming on his face. ( _Not like anyone would care_ , Tony thinks.)

With a final and particularly hard punch to the gut, Howard threw him to the ground, muttering unintelligible sentences Tony was positive were insults. He threw a glance at his son before grabbing an expensive looking bottle of scotch and walking out of the room.

It _hurt_. More so than usual. Tony could feel every bone in his body ache, while his head relentlessly throbbed in his skull. What could have caused the older man to lash out even more so?

With a sudden realization, Tony’s eyes widened. _The date. What’s today’s date?!_

Tony fished out his phone, clumsily turning it on.

December 16th. The day Tony’s mother passed away when he was just shy of turning seven. How could he have forgotten? 

The teen heaved a sigh. That explained the particularly rough and obvious hits he had received.

Tony had loved his mother. She may have been too busy using an assortment of “medications” (Nowadays, Tony knows it wasn’t medicine. He hadn’t known that when she died.) to pay much attention to her only son, but she never laid a hand on him; never to give him affection, but also never to harm him.

(Tony isn’t sure which he would have preferred. At least one way, his mom would have given him _some_ kind of attention. Isn’t that better than none at all?)

Putting his phone back into his pocket, Tony made his way over to where he knew Jarvis would be, waiting for him with near the kitchen.

“Hey, J, I’m home. I’ve been working on this really cool learning bot, he’s still a work in progress but I think-“

“Master Anthony, are you alright?” Jarvis interrupted, a slight tinge of panic in his voice. By now, he was used to the boy coming to him less than alright, but it’s been a while since the older man has seen such dark bruises on his face. The older Stark usually kept the focus of his aggressions in easy to hide spots, so it worried Jarvis to think his attacks were becoming worse.

Tony looked down, ashamed. “No, Jarvis. I don’t think so. Howard, he was… well, rougher than usual. It’s the 16th, remember? I’ll need some help covering these up…” His voice trailed off.

The butler pulled the young teen into an embrace. “Of course, Master Anthony. Go sit in your room, I’ll meet you there with the necessary supplies in a couple of minutes.” 

Not meeting the man’s eyes, Tony nodded and reluctantly left the warmth and safety of Jarvis’ arms. He walked to his room with a slight limp in his right leg. Tony hoped no one at school would notice. They never did.

*****  
When Tony woke up the next morning, his entire body felt sore beyond belief. His head pounded, and it took all of his effort to stand up without toppling over. He debated if it was worth going to school today, but quickly banished the thought as staying home would prompt another rage induced fit from Howard.

As usual, Jarvis had helped him treat his wounds the previous night. He also left Tony some makeup on his nightstand for him to cover up the bruises on his face with. ( _Thank god for Jarvis_ , Tony thinks. He doesn’t know how he’d survive without the man in his life.)

The teen hobbled to his bathroom, feeling lightheaded. A few carefully hidden pain killers would hopefully take away the edge of yesterday’s misfortunes.

After making himself look presentable, Tony ambled his way to the kitchen, where Jarvis had made him a quick breakfast. Tony took a seat on the closest chair and quietly began to eat.

“Good morning, Master Anthony. How are you feeling?” Jarvis inquired, hoping the boy was faring better than last night.

Tony put on his signature smirk and said “Fantastic, J. Don’t know where I’d be without you. Thanks for that, by the way, you’re a life saver.” He didn’t want to worry Jarvis anymore than he already had, and after everything the older man has done for him, lying about how he was feeling was the least he could do.

Jarvis frowned, quickly recognizing the faux persona the young teen was fronting. He didn’t push. “I’m glad to hear so, Master Anthony. You best be on your way, we don’t want you to be late now, do we?”

“Right, of course J. I know the drill. See you!” Tony moved as quickly as his could without stumbling, grabbed his bag, and dashed outside to where his personal driver awaited to take him to school.

*****

The drive to school was as cold and lifeless as ever, and even though Tony would rather walk or take the bus, that doesn’t fit the “stereotypical rich boy” persona. Tony knew everyone thought of him as spoiled, and he can’t really find it in him to disagree. Just because Howard hits him around doesn’t mean he isn’t a selfish brat. Just because he has worked his ass off to skip a few grades and be a high school senior at the age of fourteen doesn’t mean he isn’t spoiled, right? Anything he has every accomplished is just because he’s Howards son, _right_? It must be true, at least that’s what everyone says.

The teen sighed. He desperately wished to be accepted among his peers. Tony seemed to be destined to be an outcast, whether at home or at school. He can’t say he blames his fellow students for hating him, though. He _was_ an asshole. At least he acted like one.

After showing weakness to Howard for the first time and being punished for it, Tony was serious when he vowed to never do so again. Showing people his true colors was a sign of him being _weak_. It was unacceptable. _Stark men are made of iron_.

So he decided to put up a front. Asshole rich-kid Tony Stark. A spoiled jerk who had life handed to him on a silver platter and has never had a hard day in his life. It was easier this way.

This way people didn’t ask questions. If he came to class looking like the life had been drained out of his eyes, he can put on a smirk and toss around some sarcastic comments and no one would bat an eye. If he limped through the halls after an especially rough day with Howard, he could hold his head up high and spit out deeming phrases to his peers as though he were better than them, and everyone would seem to not notice the way he walked, seemingly more keen on avoiding him and gossiping about what a _jerk Tony Stark is, he thinks he’s better than everyone else just because he’s Howard Stark’s son_.

If only they knew.

Once the driver arrived at his school, Tony took a deep breath and stepped out of the car. He held his head up high and smirked, ignoring the throbbing pain he felt in the back of his head.

It was easier this way, _right_?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And now we're getting into Tony's school life! The next chapter I plan on introducing more of the characters.  
> If it isn't obvious, right now the people at school don't like Tony Stark, even the main characters think he's just a spoiled rich kid. They'll learn the hard way that not everything is as it seems.
> 
> Thanks a bunch for reading!


	3. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony accidentally lets part of his mask slip. Steve's just confused.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now we're getting into it a bit more!  
> I gotta say, for something I started writing out of nowhere at two in the morning, the feedback has been really awesome! I really appreciate the support, it makes writing this so much more fun.
> 
> With that being said, enjoy!

Despite being the only heir to one of the most powerful businessmen in the country, Tony somehow managed to convince Howard to let him attend a somewhat normal high school. Though to Tony’s surprise, the students here seemed to be anything _but_ normal whether it came to their looks ( _Hint hint_ Thor. How is it possible for a teenager to be so tall and muscular?!) or their brains. (Bruce Banner, anyone? That dude may look unimpressive, but he has a beautiful mind. Tony would love to talk about science and stuff with the teen one day.)

Howard had wanted Tony to go straight to MIT after he passed middle school with flying colors. However, Tony wanted to experience a shred of normalcy once in his life and made a proposition. In return for him being allowed at least a year at a normal school with people his age, (Somewhat his age at least… most of the other seniors were at least 3 or 4 years older than him, but Tony supposes that age gap would’ve been impossible to avoid no matter where he went) Tony would use his free time to develop and improve weapons for Stark Industries.

It wasn’t an ideal situation for the teen. He would much rather use that time to work on more innovative things like artificial intelligence or even robotics. Tony could do so much better than just making things that blow up.

(He never said that to Howard, of course. Initially disagreeing with the older man had earned him enough bruises and aches to last a lifetime; He didn’t dare refuse him any further. Tony didn’t have a death wish.)

*****

One thing Tony had quickly figured out about public school is that the classes were not nearly as fast-paced as he’d like. The young genius constantly felt himself lolling into a day dream, eyes glassing over.

“Mr. Stark!” Professor Coulson called out, “Are you listening to even a word I’m saying?”

Tony’s head subtly snapped to the front of the room, eyes focusing on his teacher that _demanded_ to be called professor. Tony thought it was ridiculous.

The teen smirked and casually replied, “What’s up, Coulson?”

The physics teacher frowned, not at all happy with the boy’s behavior.

“Care to come up to the board and find the angle of refraction for problem three?” Coulson challenged.

Putting on the best unamused face he could, Tony sauntered up to the front of the room. Why did people struggle with this problem so much? It’s like all you have to do is throw in sinθ and some division and students would run for the hills.

Tony quickly solved the problem. He was correct, of course, and sent a smirk Coulson’s way as if to say _”try me.”_

Coulson didn’t take the bait, much to Tony’s disappointment. “Thank you, Mr. Stark. You may return to your seat now.”

“Oh, pleasure’s all mine, Professor. I think I’m more than prepared for our next test. So, if you’ll excuse me, I think I’m just gonna call it an early day…” Tony began to trail off as he made his way to the door. As much of a genius as he was, Tony hated being called out and put on the spot and now he just wanted to be alone and away from prying eyes. It’s different with the press, Tony thinks. He never bothers to learn the names and faces of reporters, so he doesn’t know any of them personally; He doesn’t try and fit in among them.

Coulson rushed to beat the teen to the door and quickly threw an arm out to block his escape. “I don’t think so, Mr. Stark. Take a seat.”

That caught Tony by surprise. Out of pure instinct, Tony flinched away and threw his arms up to block a blow he was almost certain was coming. The air in the room grew tense.

“…Tony? Are you okay?” Coulson began, eyes slightly widening. He hadn’t expected to see such a violent reaction from the teen. He acted as though Coulson would strike him, but surely the boy knows his teacher would never lay a harmful hand on him?

It only took a few seconds for Tony’s mind to click back into place and realize he wasn’t with Howard. The teen calmly lowered his arms and released a nervous chuckle.

“Wow, Coulson. Didn’t know your old bones had it in you to move so fast. You surprised me. Good for you, you managed to impress the great Tony Stark! Now, like I was saying, I’ll be on my way.”

Tony took advantage of the stunned silence. Making a peace sign with his fingers, the teen said, “Okay great, yep, see you!” and made his escape.

In his hurry to leave, he missed the curious look sent his way by none other than Steve Rogers.

*****

Tony contemplated skipping his next class; it was the class right before lunch anyways. It was only history, which Tony didn’t naturally excel in like math or physics, but he _was_ still a genius.

That class also had most of the teens from _The Group_ in it. Tony didn’t think he could handle pulling another stunt like that off in front of them.

 _Them_ being some of the most popular senior kids in the school. Steve Rogers, Thor Odinson, Clint Barton, and Natasha Romanov. Bruce Banner and Steve’s childhood friend “Bucky” even found their way into that little group. It’s obvious to anyone that they’re all very close and trust each other very much.

 _Must be nice_ , Tony thinks, _to have such a close-knit group of friends_. Five years ago, Tony had hoped he’d be able to find that kind of security with a small group of friends, but he’s long given up on that fantasy. Who’d want to be friends with a spoiled jerk like Tony Stark?

 _You’d have plenty of friends if you just threw around some money at people_ , a voice nags in the back of the teen’s head.

The brown-eyed genius sighed. No, he had far too much pride to stoop to such levels. Tony would rather be an outcast than buy someone’s respect.

Releasing yet another sigh, Tony decides to just skip his next class and find an inconspicuous place to take a cat-nap. He’ll need all of the rest he can get if Howard was still busy being extra moody.

*****

Tony Stark was an anomaly.

At least he was to Steve. He could never quite figure out what it was about the young genius, but his attention always seemed drawn to the short teen.

When Stark had first shown up at this school, Steve couldn’t help but be surprised. He had expected someone more… intimidating. (And taller. He was the son of Howard Stark, and that man was pretty huge! Why is his son so small?! It didn’t make sense to Steve.)

(He’s also not sure why it bothers him so much.)

Steve had wanted to introduce himself and try and get to know Stark. After a couple of failed attempts, the younger teen had made it pretty clear that he wasn’t interested in associating himself with people of a lower class. Stark never said that to his face, but his attitude and snark spoke for themselves. Steve’s not even sure why Tony Stark (of all people) had even decided to attend this school. Didn’t he have some… snobby rich-kid private school to go to instead?

Either way, Steve was pretty positive he had the kid figured out. How much depth could some spoiled teenager have anyways? He was a jerk just because he could be; just because he was rich with a brilliant father.

So when Stark had _flinched_ when Professor Coulson had gone to block the door, Steve was (not for the first time) surprised by the genius.

What in the world is up with Tony Stark?

People don’t just flinch. The teen looked like he thought he was about to be attacked; there’s got to be some past experience Stark doesn’t let on to.

Perhaps he was just bullied? That wouldn’t be surprising. Being as small and defenseless as the younger Stark was, especially in a setting where everyone is older and stronger than you, he was a pretty good target for bullying. Steve would know. He had spent his entire childhood being smaller than everyone else. People liked to hurt things they knew didn’t have the strength to fight back. (Physical strength, at least. Steve never let his smaller size deter him. He would never back down from a fight. Nowadays he has the size and strength to back up his spitfire personality, which was both a blessing and curse for his friends.)

Or perhaps people had wanted money out of him or were just getting sick of his constant snark and sass.

If that’s the case, Steve definitely wouldn’t be surprised. Stark walked around the school as if he owned it. He held his head up high (Perhaps compensating for his lack of height?) and practically strutted through the halls. Every move he made screamed _“I’m better than all of you!”_

Steve voiced these thoughts to his friends when most of them were together for Miss Hill’s history class.

“Stevie, maybe you’re just reading a little too much into this Tony Stark kid. He’s fourteen and rich, how complex can his life be?” Bucky, Steve’s best friend since they were very young, questioned.

Clint, who was leaning against Natasha, butted in. “Yeah. Kid’s a jerk, anyways, Steve. Does it really matter? If he is getting bullied he probably deserves it.”

Natasha nudged him with her elbow. “You don’t mean that, Clint. I doubt you’d stand around and watch as Stark got slapped around.”

“Okay, you got me there. But I still don’t think it matters. The guy’s obnoxious, if something was going on with him I doubt he’d stay quiet about it. He’d want attention.” 

Bucky nodded, agreeing with Clint. “I bet he would. Maybe ask Thor or Bruce about it when we go to lunch. Bruce is pretty smart, ain’t he? He might understand Stark better than any of us.”

Steve looked away and sighed, but didn’t disagree. “You guys are probably right. I think I’m still gonna bring it up with Bruce though. It’s been buggin’ me ever since he started going here, and now especially after last hour.”

Natasha raised an eyebrow. “You have physics with him, don’t you? What happened last hour?”

That got everyone’s attention, so Steve quickly explained the most recent exchange between Professor Coulson and Stark before he ran out of the classroom.

Clint, no longer using Natasha for support, leaned back in his chair and let out a low whistle. “Damn, Steve, that’s pretty out of character for someone like Stark.”

“Speaking of Stark, where is he anyways? That just happened last hour, so we know he’s here today.” Bucky looked around the room. There was no genius in sight.

Steve sat up at the realization. “He did leave the room pretty fast, he might not feel well. Or I guess he could just be skipping.”

“Who knows, maybe we’ll run into him at some point today,” Natasha spoke up.

Grunting, Clint joked, “Don’t say that, ‘Tasha! I don’t know if I could handle any of that kid’s sass today.”

The four friends continued to chatter through the rest of the class, Tony Stark no longer their topic of choice. Though Steve couldn’t help but occasionally let his mind wander back to the young genius.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oooh. Finally getting into some heavier dialogue and Steve just has no idea what's going on, does he?  
> I really liked writing this chapter. Writing out dialogue is so much easier than I expected, which is why I avoided it in the previous chapters. Hopefully I'm doing alright at portraying everyone so far.
> 
> Anyhoo, hopefully you enjoyed! Who knows where this story will go.


	4. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve and Bucky come across something unexpected. Tony's just sick of everything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is a bit of a longer chapter.  
> I've got to admit I'm really loving this fanfiction so far, and apparently so are some other people; again the feedback has been absolutely incredible, so thank you all so much!
> 
> A warning: There's a bunch of swearing in this chapter. Tony has a potty mouth.

The bell rang, signaling the end of fourth period and the start of lunch. Clint and Natasha went off to meet Bruce and Thor in their usual spot while Steve and Bucky excused themselves to the restroom.

“Steve. You were spacing out all hour, is this whole thing with Stark really getting to you?” Leave it to Bucky to know when his best friend was overthinking things.

“I don’t know, Buck, kind of? You didn’t see him. He looked terrified, and let me tell you, I never would’ve guessed Stark was capable of making that kind of face.” Steve tried to reason. He really needed to ask Bruce about the teen.

Bucky didn’t respond, simply nodding his head as they continued to walk.

The two friends reached the bathroom. As they were about to step in, the door on the opposite side of the hall caught the larger teen’s attention.

“Hey Buck, isn’t that door usually locked?” Steve started. It was the door to the janitor’s closest, cracked open ever so slightly. The school was usually pretty strict about students not being allowed in there.

The dark-haired teen looked at Steve, then back towards the door. A glint of curiosity sparked in Bucky’s eyes, and he made his way to the door pushing it open and peaking inside, Steve hovering just behind him.

“Uh, Steve...? You may want to get a look at this.”

“A look at what?” Steve curiously peaked his head through the door, now alongside Bucky. What he saw… well let’s just say it was completely and utterly unexpected.

Inside the janitor’s closet on the ground next to a bunch of cleaning supplies and a bright yellow mop bucket lay none other than Tony Stark, quietly napping away. His brown eyes were closed, breath even, and he laid curled up into a ball. That definitely couldn’t be comfortable.

Bucky was the first to say something. “Either I’m going insane and seeing things or that isn’t Tony fucking Stark sleeping in a dirty janitor’s closet. That’s Stark, right Steve? I’m not seeing things?”

“I don’t think so…? I guess this explains why he wasn’t in Miss Hill’s class just now.” Steve was frozen, unable to take his eyes off the sleeping genius. The teen, usually larger than life, now looked just plain vulnerable. It was odd (understatement of the century) to see the guy without his signature smirk and bright, defiant eyes calculating everything around him.

To see his face so slack and body curled up to make himself look impossibly small… he looked very… _peaceful_ , Steve thought.

The blond teen broke out of his trance when he heard the click of a phone’s camera snapping a picture.

“Bucky?”

“Clint is gonna have a field day with this, Stevie. I hate to admit it but it looks like Stark is almost tolerable when he’s not busy spouting nonsense or judging you for not being rich. Plus, I doubt they’d believe us without some evidence.”

Another thing caught their attention. While in his sleep, Stark’s shirt had rolled up just enough for parts of his stomach to be exposed. With a growing horror, the two teens noticed the array of bruises, some yellow and fading, others a dark blue and purple, appearing new.

Bucky gulped. “I honestly thought you were just overthinking things, Steve. Looks like the kid got knocked around one too many times. Who’d even have the guts to pick on the son of Howard Stark? They must have a death wish or somethin’.”

Steve agreed. He had thought it wouldn’t be surprising if the kid was being bulled, but surely no one could be dumb enough to _actually_ beat up the son of a billionaire; the older Stark would definitely sue if he found out.

Plus, it looked like it hurt. From just the small area they could see, bruises appeared new and old; Some faded and others fresh. Whoever was hurting the genius, they definitely have done so more than once.

The younger teen shifted in his sleep, letting out a small sigh.

Steve and Bucky took that as their que to leave; there’s no way they’d risk being caught by the genius. Watching the teen sleep was most certainly an invasion of privacy, even if they hadn’t meant to stumble upon the young Stark.

“C’mon, Stevie. I have a feeling we saw way more than we were supposed to.” Bucky walked out of the room, assuming Steve would follow him out.

He did. With a final glance back at the sleeping genius, Steve let out a sigh and exited the janitor’s closet alongside Bucky.

*****

Tony woke up with a groan. Sleeping on the floor really hadn’t been his best idea, but the janitor’s closet was the most private place he had been able to find.

Lying on his back, Tony pulled out his phone and raised it in front of his face to check the time. His eyes strained to look at the bright screen in the relative darkness of the room.

 _Huh_. He had slept through most of third period and apparently all of fourth, as the time indicated it was currently the lunch hour.

Tony didn’t feel particularly hungry, and he usually never ate during lunch anyways. He figured he could grab a notebook from his bag and continue to draw up some designs for a new Stark Phone model he had been working on. The teen never has time to work on these kinds of projects anymore, as Howard always makes sure he uses his time at home for designing weapons.

Unfortunately, the janitor’s closet was far too dark for Tony to really see what he was doing, and there wasn’t a good spot for him to rest his phone on to use the flashlight. The lights in the room also flickered, which really bothered the genius and he didn’t think it was worth having them on or trying to fix them.

 _Oh well_ , Tony thinks, _guess I’ll have to relocate if I want to get anything done_.

The genius usually spends his lunch period either napping or wandering the halls, but on the occasions he does want to get some work done, he’s usually forced to go into the cafeteria to use the tables as none of the classrooms are ever open.

He could always just pick the locks like he had done for opening the janitor’s closet, but Tony didn’t want to risk the trouble of having a teacher walk in on him and find out just how he had gotten in. Teachers hated him enough as is, he didn’t need to give them more reasons to.

With a sigh, the teen stood up and headed for the cafeteria.

When he arrived, Tony picked the most desolate table he could find and began to work. Other than the fact he was in a room filled with loud and reckless teenagers, Tony really was in his element here. He loved being able to sketch out new designs and write out unique coding. Besides, he could just tune out the surrounding students and pretend he was in his workshop if he tried hard enough and threw a pair of headphones in his ears.

So absorbed in his work, Tony didn’t notice a certain student walk up to his table until he snatched the notebook right out from under him.

Surprised by the sudden movement, Tony yanks out his headphones and shouts, “Hey! What’re you doing?!”

“Come on, Tony, lighten up. I just want to see what you’re working on over here all by yourself.”

Justin Hammer. Great. What a fan-fucking-tastic addition to his already messed up day.

Out of all the people that just had to bother Tony right now, it had to be him?! This guy, who was also a senior, seemed to have some sort of self-declared rivalry with the genius. It drove Tony absolutely insane.

“What do you want, Hammer? If I’m being honest with you, which I always am by the way, I really don’t like you and I definitely don’t want to deal with any of your shit today.” No use in trying to scare Hammer off by being an asshole. The guy was easily the biggest asshole in the school; at least Tony thought so.

“Is this supposed to be an upgrade for the Stark Phone? I thought your dad designed all of that stuff. I doubt people would want to buy them if they knew a kid had made them,” Hammer taunted.

Tony mentally groaned. Yes, Howard designed the phones, but that doesn’t mean Tony couldn’t improve them in his own time. Howard would never accept his input, but the phone’s current design had so many flaws that the genius could easily fix.

“Yes, Howard designs the phones, does it really matter? Just hand the notebook over, Hammer.” Tony stood up, already sick of the other teen’s presence. He also noticed a lot of the student body’s attention had been drawn to the two of them, and he wanted to get out of here as soon as possible. Tony hated being under the scrutiny of his peers.

Justin slowly backed away from him, looking ready to take off with the notebook.

“If that’s the case, I think I’ll keep this coding for myself. As you know, my dad is the head of Hammer Industries and we could make use and improve these designs much better than you or anyone at Stark Industries ever could.”

Tony was getting pissed. Those designs were improvements of the current Stark Phone, so they were obviously mostly modeled after them. If Howard caught wind of what he had been doing, and to lose the designs to Hammer…

He would be so horribly screwed.

“Uhm, yeah, no, I don’t think so. Are you really so dumb to the point you can’t even come up with your own phone designs?” Tony taunted back.

That seemed to make Hammer angry. Score one for Tony.

“Watch it, Stark! I could beat the shit out of you with one hand tied behind my back!” Apparently insulting Hammer’s intelligence was a bad move for the genius, because if Hammer really _did_ try to fight Tony, he doesn’t think he’d last too long. As much as the teen hates to admit it, he isn’t big or strong. Hell, Justin himself is a pretty pathetic looking guy, but even he could take on Tony if he wanted to.

Tony was never good at thinking things through, though.

“I’d like to see you try, Hammer.”

That was all it took for Hammer to drop the notebook and lunge at him. Man, this guy really needed to work on his anger issues.

Tony tried to dodge, he really did, but he wasn’t nearly quick enough to avoid being punched square in the face, right on his left cheekbone. At least now he’d have an explanation for the bruises already on his face; He could probably get away with not putting any makeup on.

Hammer had definitely been aiming to get another few hits in, but was lifted off of him in record time by Thor and Bucky.

“Woah, Hammer! Chill out, was that really necessary?” Called Clint. Tony looked up and saw him and Steve walk over to him, Clint grabbing him by the arm to pull him to his feet. Natasha and Bruce were standing off in the sidelines, watching their friends break up the one-sided fight.

“You alright, Stark?” Clint asked. Steve just looked down at him, worry present in his gaze.

Fuck. Tony really didn’t have the energy to deal with these people. Hammer was annoying, sure, but Tony had no problem throwing sarcastic and insulting comments his way. This group was an entirely different story; the only one Tony had ever thought he had a chance of talking to was Bruce, but even then he could never bring himself to say hi.

“Yeah, of course, always.” Tony made a move to shuffle passed them and pick up his notebook; unfortunately Hammer beat him to it.

Justin broke out of Thor and Bucky’s loose grip and snatched the notebook. He was at least smart enough to know he wouldn’t get away with taking it at this point, so he did the next best thing. He tore it to shreds.

The action reminded Tony far too much of when Howard destroyed the blueprints to his robot dog.

“This is absolutely fucking ridiculous,” Tony muttered under his breath.

“What was that, Tony? I have no problem beating that snark out of you, you know.” Justin scoffed. Bucky pushed him back with a threatening arm across his chest.

It wasn’t worth saying anything else. Tony just wanted to get out of here; practically everyone in the cafeteria had stood up to watch the show. All eyes were on Tony and it unnerved him to no end.

The young teen settled on sending a menacing scowl Hammer’s way and made a break towards the exit.

A hand on his shoulder stopped him, causing the genius to lightly flinch at the sudden contact. Tony looked up at the owner of the offending hand and was surprised to see it belonged to Steve, the school’s resident hot guy.

“…Stark? Do you need to go to the nurse’s office? That bruise looks pretty nasty.” The tall blond sounded uncertain, as if afraid Tony would go off on him for saying the wrong thing.

He wasn’t completely wrong; Tony wouldn’t allow himself to slip up and show weakness to _Steve_ of all people, even if it was tempting under the blond’s worried gaze.

Tony smacked the hand off his shoulder, scowling. “Back off, Rogers. I’m fine. I don’t need your help.”

And with that, Tony made his exit, the worried gazes of his rescuers going completely unnoticed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there we have it. The main gang finally had some interactions with Tony.  
> It just wasn't Tony's day, was it?
> 
> I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter! Thanks for reading!


	5. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve finally asks some questions and Tony just wants to get through the week.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, thank you all a bunch for already 100 kudos! That's pretty awesome.
> 
> A warning for some bad language (as usual) in this chapter, but nothing too serious.

Bucky, as Steve expected, had been really excited to tell their friends about their encounter with an unconscious Tony Stark. He even had the picture to prove the two of them weren’t making it up.

It’s not like they’d do anything else with the picture, though Clint would probably insist they could sell it off to some news station for a good chunk of cash. Bucky wasn’t that kind of person; He had no reason to do anything with it other than use it as proof.

They never got the chance to tell their story, though. By the time the entire group got their food and settled down, shouting had been heard from the most remote corner of the cafeteria.

“Watch it, Stark! I could beat the shit out of you with one hand tied behind my back!”

Their heads snapped towards the source of the yelling. None of them were really surprised to see that it was Justin Hammer.

Thor hummed. “What do you suppose has Justin so distressed?”

“Considering the fact that he threatened to beat the shit out of Stark, I’m gonna assume it’s because of him,” Clint responded. “Do they really have to argue so out in the open? They’re two of the biggest assholes in this school.”

Bruce seemed nervous. “Guys, maybe we should stop them? Justin does look really upset…”

Bruce was right, as not even a few seconds later, Justin lunged towards Stark and swung at him. Ouch.

A thump was heard as Stark fell to the floor, Justin hovering on top of him ready to strike the young teen again.

Surprisingly enough, Clint was the first one to jump out of his seat. The rest of the group, catching on to the fact Clint wanted to stop the fight, followed suit.

Bucky and Thor grabbed Justin by the arms and pulled him away from Stark before he could take another swing. Clint dashed forward and grabbed the kid by the arm to pull him to his feet saying, “Woah, Hammer! Chill out, was that really necessary?” Clint took a mental note on how easy it was for him to nearly lift the kid up. “Are you okay?”

Stark seemed really agitated. No one could blame him, to be fair, he had just gotten punched in the face, but the skittish look of the guy’s posture was pretty out of character. Steve was torn being leaving the kid alone or reaching out to comfort him. Every student in the cafeteria looked at the scene in wonder.

When Stark had made a move to pick up his discarded notebook, Justin beat him to it and proceeded to tear it up. The crestfallen look that appeared on the genius’ face was a shock, but it left as quickly as it came, leaving Steve to wonder if he had simply imagined it. He wondered what importance that notebook had held for the younger teen.

Steve heard Stark mutter something under his breath, but couldn’t make out what he said. Everyone definitely heard what Justin had to say to that though, scoffing out an obnoxious “What was that, Tony? I have no problem beating that snark out of you, you know.” Justin didn’t stick around much longer after that.

A bruise could already be seen forming along the genius’ cheekbone. It looked painful, and Steve’s worry only grew. He tried offering to take the teen to the nurse’s office, but only received a dry response in return.

“Back off, Rogers. I’m fine. I don’t need your help.”

Steve didn’t really believe him; he looked anything but fine. Even though Steve knew Stark had just taken a nap, he looked worn out and tired. Maybe he was just having a bad day.

(Or maybe he’s always been like that and Steve had never really taken the time to notice.)

The group of friends watched as Stark sauntered out of the cafeteria, worry fixed in all of their gazes.

“That could have gone better,” Clint joked, trying to lighten the mood.

Nods of agreement were passed around. “Yeah. It really could have,” Steve agreed.

*****

The crowd that had formed during the commotion eventually dispersed, many people gossiping about what had caused the dispute in the first place.

“That was ridiculous,” Clint began, “When I said the kid deserved to be pushed around I didn’t actually mean it.”

Natasha whispered something into Clint’s ear. He frowned, sitting back down at the lunch table.

Steve could tell Bucky still wanted to bring up the closet incident, but didn’t think now would be an appropriate time. They’d be able to laugh about it another time; not right after the kid had been punched in the face.

The blond teen figured now was as good of as a time as ever to finally ask Bruce about Stark.

The six of them settled back down at their table, Steve giving into temptation and asking, “Hey Bruce, I’ve been meaning to ask you something. What do you know about Stark?” The others began nonchalantly listening in to their conversation.

Bruce looked at him in confusion. “Why are you asking me, Steve? I haven’t talked to him any more than any of our other friends have…”

“It was Bucky’s idea to ask, actually… I guess we assumed you might understand the kid better than us because you’re really smart.”

That caused a small smile to appear on Bruce’s face. “Steve, I’m flattered you think so highly of me, but even I’m no where near Tony Stark’s level of intelligence. As obnoxious as he acts at school, he really is brilliant.”

That caused Steve to pause. He had always been so caught up in the teen’s rude attitude to really pay attention to the fact that he _was_ actually a genius. He was a high school senior as a fourteen-year-old kid; that alone should have been a pretty big reminder to his intelligence.

Bruce continued to speak. “I mean, have you seen some of the things he’s designed for Stark Industries? Most of them are weapons, but the technology behind them is absolutely incredible. I have a hard time believing he’s only fourteen sometimes…”

Huh. Bruce must look up to the genius more than he originally let on. There weren’t many things the smart teen would rant about, but apparently Tony Stark’s intelligence was one of them.

Bruce’s rant caused Clint to let out a small chuckle. “You must really admire Stark, huh? Even if he is a self-absorbed jerk?”

The teen in question blushed lightly and shook his head. “I just… really admire his work, I guess. I wish I could just sit down and have a conversation with him. And yes, Clint, even if he is a self-absorbed jerk. Honestly I’m surprised none of you have caught on to the fact that his behavior is just an act.”

Natasha looked at Bruce, something akin to understanding in her eyes. “You thought so too, huh?”

Steve and Bucky looked at each other as if to say, _“What are they going on about?”_

Thor thought it would be a good time to add in his own two cents . “Aye, I’ve noticed something off about the young Stark as well. Have our friends really not noticed?”

“Hey! Wait just a second there, not notice _what_?” Clint said, annoyance evident in his voice.

“That Tony might not really be as much of a jerk as the entire school seems to think he is?” Bruce began. “I’ve always had my suspicions, but after what happened with Justin just now I’m pretty sure I’m right.”

Bucky spoke up, just as confused as Steve and Clint, “What does Justin Hammer have to with whether or not Stark is an asshole?” There was no malice behind his words, just confusion.

Natasha answered for Bruce, “It means that if Stark really was the biggest ass in the school, there’s no way he’d let Justin Hammer punch him in the face and get away with it like that. He’d of rung up some lawyers the second it happened. Plus, I don’t think that was the first time Justin messed with him.”

The bell signaling the end of lunch rang. With the promise of picking the conversation up where they left off, the group of friends went their separate ways to their next classes.

Steve and Bucky luckily had their next class together as well, English. They walked through the halls side by side, the same question floating through their heads.

_What in the world is up with Tony Stark?_

*****

Tony’s head really fucking _hurt_. Hammer may look weak, but he surely packed a punch. It probably didn’t help that his head had already been pounding from his most recent squabble with Howard.

He knows the entire school is going to be talking about his encounter with Hammer for at least a week. On the bright side, at least there’s less of a chance someone will bring up his slip up in Coulson’s class.

Tony thought he’d be safe from being beaten up at school; that he’d only have to worry about his safety when at home with Howard.

 _Guess not_ , Tony thinks with growing sadness.

The young teen didn’t even have the energy to be angry anymore. He was so _sick_ of getting his ass handed to him wherever he went; Tony can’t even seem to remember a time when his body wasn’t throbbing from some kind of injury.

After slapping Steve’s hand off his shoulder and escaping the cafeteria, Tony settled for heading back in the janitor’s closet and hiding out in there for the rest of lunch. He felt himself doze off, but was awoken when the bell rang.

Tony really didn’t want to go to the rest of his classes. An idea flickered in the teen’s head, and instead of walking out of the room, he closed the door and pulled out his phone, dialing a number he was oh so familiar with.

The person picked up in three rings; Tony felt a smile begin to spread on his face.

“Rhodey-bear! How’s my favorite person doing today?”

James Rhodes, more commonly referred to as Rhodey by yours truly, was Tony’s best friend; He had been for nearly five years. He was older than Tony by almost 4 years and he didn’t go to the same school, but Rhodey was the one person Tony knew he could always count on to have his back.

Rhodey was also a senior, but he went to a school designed to prepare students for joining the military, so he boarded away from home. The fact they were able to meet and become friends had been highly unlikely, though Tony was never one to question his luck.

James let out a fond sigh, saying, “Hey, Tones, how’s it going? Not that I’m upset that you called or anything, but aren’t you supposed to be in school?”

“Uh, yeah, about that…” Tony went on to explain the day’s events from Coulson’s class to sleeping in a closet, and inevitably to his little dispute with Justin Hammer.

Rhodey whistled. “Damn, Tony, it’s just not your day, is it?”

“No, it’s really not, Rhodey…” he trailed off.

Rhodey, being the amazing friend he was, knew there was a little more to the story, but he wouldn’t pry. He knew all that would do is cause Tony to close himself off.

“Say, Tones, I’ll be at home this weekend. How about we hang out and walk around town, just like when we were younger?” The two friends rarely saw each other in person anymore, and as much as Rhodey liked talking to the younger teen on the phone, he had to admit he really missed spending time with his friend.

“You mean it, Honey-bear? That sounds absolutely fantastic! Great, amazing, whatever you want to call it.” This is why Tony loved Rhodey; he knew exactly what to say to cheer him up.

“Awesome. I’ll text you the details when I get home, but I’ve gotta run. My next class is starting soon. Be careful, okay Tony? I’ll see you soon.”

“Always, Rhodey.” Tony responded, and quietly hung up the phone.

The teen rested his back on one of the walls and tilted his head towards the ceiling with his eyes closed. He let out a sigh, any of his remaining energy now gone.

He opened his eyes, silently looking at the cracks and cobwebs on the ceiling.

 _I’ve just gotta make it to the weekend_ , Tony thinks, _I can do that_.

 _Hopefully_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I finally figured out how I wanted to include Rhodey!  
> And also now the whole gang's just confused, nice going Steve.
> 
> I hope everyone enjoyed! I've already got part of the next chapter started...


	6. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After school musings featuring Steve and Clint. (And Tony really loves Jarvis)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And another! Again thank you all so, so much for the incredible feedback. I never expected to get such a positive response from this, but I'm very happy that I have. Enjoy!
> 
> Small warning: Very very brief description of abuse. Nothing too graphic, but please read with caution.

Tony knew he couldn’t sit around in the janitor’s closet all day. As much as he didn’t want to go home and back to Howard, he didn’t have much of a choice when the final bell rang at the end of the school day. He didn’t want to worry Jarvis, either.

With a small sigh, the teen stood up and put his ear to the door to make sure no one was around. When he deemed that the coast was clear, he stepped out and made his way out of the school towards the expensive car waiting to take him home.

Tony hated the silence during these car rides. The driver was instructed to not allow the teen to play music, and it was considered unprofessional to try and engage in conversation.

Fifteen minutes later, he arrived at home. “Home” being more of an empty mansion he was forced to live in, but those were minor details.

Taking a deep breath, Tony steps inside the mansion calling out, “Hey, Jarvis? I’m home!”

He doesn’t hear a response, so Tony assumes he’s somewhere farther inside the mansion and can’t hear him.

Shrugging, Tony begins to walk towards the steps upstairs and to his room. Unfortunately, it seemed his shitty day still had more to offer.

Tony hadn’t been counting on seeing Howard walk down the stairs. Usually at this time, the older Stark was holed up in his lab or office doing who knows what.

“Anthony,” Howard just sounded annoyed, “Why is it that the first thing you decide to do after walking through that door is yell? You really have no manners, boy. What would your mother think?”

That was a low blow, even for him. Bringing his dead mother into this? Tony scoffed under his breath, “It’s not like she’d be much happier with you.”

Howard finished his climb down the stairs, a small glass in his left hand. Tony watched as he walked towards him, and felt his head snap to the side as he was slapped.

Howard grabbed a tuft of the boy’s brown hair, forcing his son’s head towards him. “What was that? Starks do not _mumble_ , Anthony. Know your place.” Shoving his head to the side, he released his hold on the boy’s head and began to walk away.

“Right. Sorry.” Tony said with his eyes downcast, clear enough to be heard even as Howard walked away. He didn’t turn around as his son apologized.

That icy disapproval almost hurt more than his fits of boiled rage.

Tony lightly shook his head, attempting to ignore the burn of his skin from being slapped. He resumed the trek towards his room, since the teen needed to grab some unfinished blueprints for a prototype. Howard had wanted him to come up with a way to make tear gas invisible for ambushes. Tony’s pretty sure he had it figured out, now all he needed to do was make some finishing touches and test it out. He’s supposed to have it done by the end of the week, which gives him less than two days to finish.

_I better get to work, then_ , he thinks. Tony doesn’t want to know what Howard would do to him if this wasn’t finished on time.

*****

Tony spent the remainder of his day and most of his night down in his lab, finishing up the project for Howard. It took a lot less time than expected, so at the very least Tony didn’t have to worry about doing anything else for the man over the next couple of days.

It was, however, four in the morning by the time he finished. He was absolutely _exhausted_. Jarvis had come down at some point to get him to eat, but after that Tony had been solely focused on just _finishing this damn grenade_.

At this point, the young genius struggled to keep his head up, and he could feel his eyes drooping shut.

A light knock on the door caught his attention.

“Master Anthony? Open the door please, I know you’re down here.”

Weird, why was Jarvis still up? The teen hopes he didn’t stay up to wait for him to finish his project. He stood up and with bleary eyes, made his way to the door to let Jarvis in.

He yawned. “Oh hey, J. Fancy seeing you here. What can I do you for?”

A fond smile made its way to the butler’s lips. “Come along, Master Anthony. You don’t have long before you need to get ready for school, so you should get as much rest as possible.”

God, Tony loved Jarvis. He was endlessly kind to the teen, and Tony wishes he could do more to show his gratitude.

Nodding, Tony remained quiet and let himself be led to his room. Jarvis helped him to bed and with a fond kiss on his forehead, left the room. “Goodnight, young Sir.”

*****

Steve was relieved when the school day had finally ended. Between all of the chaos surrounding Stark and a particularly grueling assignment from Mr. Ross, the blond teen just wanted to go home.

Steve was currently standing outside of the school, the space around him chilly with California’s winter air. The teen was waiting for Bucky and Clint, as they all live in the same direction and walk home together. Steve took the opportunity of silence to think.

Tomorrow was Thursday, meaning the weekend was just around the corner. Steve and friends had planned to get together over the weekend, and after this crazy week, he couldn’t wait to just relax and hang out with his friends. _I wonder what Stark is doing…_

The sound of a nearby door being opened snapped the blond male out of his musings. He turned towards the door, expecting to see Bucky and Clint waving at him as usual. Steve’s eyes widened a fraction in surprise when he saw Stark of all people march out of the school.

_Huh. Speak of the devil_. Steve really wanted to confront him about what had happened with Hammer and make sure he was alright. After talking with Bruce, he couldn’t have but think of the younger teen differently.

_It was all just an act? Who is Tony Stark really, then?_

Steve isn’t too sure why he wanted to find out. Call it what you want, curiosity, interest, whatever; It caused the larger male to give into temptation and attempt to talk to the brunet.

As the teen walked in his direction, Steve cautiously called out, “Hey, Stark…?”

That was about as far as he got, because the genius didn’t even seem to notice him. He sped off into an expensive looking car and was gone as quickly as he had come.

Steve raised an eyebrow in confusion. Thinking about it now, he supposed the younger teen had looked really tired… he certainly hadn’t had the best of days, either. So Steve shrugs the behavior off and promises himself to try and speak with the genius the next time the opportunity arises.

“Stevie! What’re you looking at?”

Steve turned around towards the voices, smiling as he saw his friends walk over to him, each happily waving at him.

“Hey Steve, let’s get going. I’m tired and cranky, I wanna get home and take a nap!” Clint proclaimed, eyes lingering in the spot Stark’s car had been mere seconds ago.

Nodding his head, the three friends began the familiar walk towards their homes.

Bucky’s house was the closest, so they reached his home first. Waving their goodbyes, that left just Steve and Clint to continuing walking through the calm winter breeze in a comfortable silence.

Clint was the first to speak. He looked uncharacteristically somber as he spoke, “Hey Steve? Remember what you said happened with Stark in Coulson’s class?”

Steve looked at him, “Yeah, I do. Why?”

The teen’s expression was unreadable. “Why do you think he thought Coulson was gonna hit him?”

_Isn’t it obvious, now? After what happened?_ “Didn’t we figure that out already? Stark’s probably been bullied by Justin for a while now and just reacted out of instinct.” Steve answered honestly. Clint’s sudden change in demeanor shocked him; he wondered what was going through the other male’s head to make him ask.

Clint narrowed his eyes. “Are we positive that was why, though? Its just… I’ve been thinking about what Bruce, ‘Tasha, ‘n Thor said. How his snark was just an act. Why would the son of a billionaire feel the need to hide behind that kind of attitude? Why would he want people to hate him?”

Steve wasn’t sure how to respond to that. What could his friend be implying? “I’m not too sure what you’re trying to get at here, Clint.” He was genuinely curious now, wanting to know what had caused the usually blunt and sarcastic teen to speak so softly.

Caught up in conversation, they almost missed it when they arrived at Steve’s house. Clint let out a sigh, one that implied ‘It’s nothing, don’t worry about it,’ and patted the larger blond on the shoulder.

“Well Steve, as much as I’d like to stick around and chat, I’ve got a bed at home calling my name. I’ll see you tomorrow.” With that, Clint continued in the direction to his house, leaving behind an increasingly more confused Steve Rogers.

“Yeah, see you…”

*****

Steve had pretty much accepted his fate of being in a perpetual state of confusion; he decided not to dwell on it too much.

By the time he settled in for the night after finishing his homework and going for a run, it was eight o’clock. His mom was supposed to be home a bit early tonight, so he decided to set up everything he thought they’d need for dinner.

The door slammed open, revealing Sarah Rogers stomping inside with some bags of groceries. “Steve! Help me out here please, would you?”

He rushed to help his mom before she toppled over. “I’ve got it.”

The two placed all of the bags on the nearest counter, and now settled, Sarah went up to her son. “Thanks for the help, Steve,” she hugged her son with a kiss to his cheek. “How was your day?”

Steve contemplated talking about what happened with Stark, and his interesting conversations as a result with Bruce and Clint. He decided against it, however, figuring he shouldn’t go on about something he hardly understood himself.

“It was fine, y’know, the usual. I’m starving though, what’re you making?”

His mom fondly smirked at him. “Come over and help me and you’ll find out.”

The two spent the rest of the night talking and joking by the television, and by ten-thirty, the day’s events caught up with the teen and he called it a night.

Sarah gave her son a kiss, noticing how worn out he looked tonight. “Goodnight, Steve. I love you.”

“I love you, too. ‘Night.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really enjoy writing this fic... my gosh.  
> And let me just say I absolutely love writing Tony's interactions with Jarvis?!
> 
> I hope you enjoyed the chapter! More to come soon.


	7. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony's convinced the universe actually hates him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we go again! Enjoy!
> 
> Some warnings: There are some pretty graphic descriptions of violence in this chapter. It's not horribly crazy, but please keep that mind as you go into reading this chapter! (Also a warning to some bad language. Tony's potty mouth isn't going anywhere anytime soon.)

Tony was running.

But from who? What? He wasn’t sure. All he knew is that he needed to run; _Run, Run, it’s not safe, you’re not safe here—_

Where was here? Tony had to think. He was a genius, after all, he should be able to. That’s what he was good at. Thinking. Coming up with answers to the impossible.

_So why can’t he?_

He was growing frustrated. _Why can’t I think? I need to think._

Nothing seemed to make sense. He was alone, running in an unfamiliar place surrounded by unfamiliar darkness. He was afraid. Being uncertain, out of control, made Tony afraid.

He spots a light. It wasn’t bright, the color of it a very dull and dreary yellow, but anything beat the edges of darkness threatening to swallow him whole.

So he runs to it.

When he reaches the light, he’s no longer running. No longer alone… He notices a large body sitting in a chair. _Where did that come from?_

Tony’s surroundings had changed. How had he not noticed? There was no longer a fog of darkness. Instead, what lies in its place, that small, yellow light. He’s in an office. He’s in Howard’s office…

Suddenly that dreary yellow seems sickening. Tony feels sick.

The man in the chair stands up and stalks towards him. The large body looms over the brunet, appearing tall and menacing. Tony recognizes this…

_It’s Howard. Howard is looming over him, that same glass filled with an amber liquid that Tony had come to learn meant he was so hopelessly screwed._

Tony begins to panic. Why was Howard mad? How had he misbehaved?

Tony wasn’t prepared for the first slap. He wasn’t ready for the first punch to his stomach, either. They kept coming. Tony tried to shield himself with his arms, but it was merely a futile attempt to block the hits and as expected, it didn’t work. Black dots began to dance in his vision.

He felt punches to his face; he felt razor-edged nails claw their way down his arms. Howard’s sharp rings penetrated his delicate skin with each strike, and Tony knew blood was trickling down his face and pooling at his feet. Blood from a nasty cut above his eyebrow dripped into his mouth, the metallic taste making Tony want to gag.

He did. He couldn’t control it; the nausea of being beaten black and blue getting to him. He threw up, hoping that the grotesque picture he created would throw Howard off, allowing him to make his escape.

That never happened. Instead, Tony felt powerful hands wrap their way around his thin neck, cutting off his already weak air supply.

He couldn’t breathe. _I can’t breathe. I can’t—_

The hands around his neck tightened, and Tony knew he wouldn’t last long before he passed out.

Even as two hands became one, the grip surrounding his neck never lessened. The punches and kicks resumed. Tony could tell some of his ribs had been broken. His leg was twisted in a frighteningly unhealthy direction and he could see the mangled flesh and bone of his calf.

Tony was going to die. _He was going to die._ He wounds were bleeding profusely, and he still _couldn’t breathe._

Howard pulled out a knife from his pocket. It was small, however looks could be deceiving. Tony knew that knife was sharp enough to kill someone. _He’s actually going to kill me…_

The older man pressed the knife to his son’s throat. Blood trickled through cuts created by the pressure of the weapon against his neck.

Howard raised the knife above his head, preparing to slam it down into son’s his heart, and all Tony could think is _I’m going to die, I’m going to die. He’s going to kill me, he’s actually going to—_

Tony woke up, a gut-wrenching scream caught in his throat.

The teen couldn’t control himself. He ran to the toilet and threw up whatever contents remained in his stomach, the sour taste left in his mouth making him gag. Too tired to do anything else, he rested his head on the edge of the seat.

His eyes were twitching, wide opened in shock and his breaths came out in labored puffs. Tony’s entire body was trembling with fear. He could still feel the blood ooze down his face. _It all had felt so real…_

He was in shock. The power of his nightmare had paralyzed any and all coherent thoughts from his mind.

Tony lightly straightened his posture and settled for resting his back against the toilet and pulling his knees to his chest. He tried to focus on calming his erratic breathing.

Too shaken up and mentally exhausted to move, Tony stayed in the bathroom with his head resting on his knees, waiting for the inevitable blaring of the alarm set to wake him up for school.

*****

The alarm sounded. Tony’s crusted-shut eyes peered open, glaring at the time that read seven o’clock in the morning. Between his late bed time and fear-inducing nightmare, Tony guesses he had gotten about two hours of sleep. That would have to do.

He was still pathetically sitting on the tiled floor of the bathroom. Still shaken from the night’s activities, Tony stood up on unsteady legs and wobbled his way to the shower. He couldn’t help but scrub at his face a little rougher than usual, attempting to forget the feeling of icy blood dripping down from his face.

Five minutes later, Tony felt slightly more awake. His eyes were no longer glued shut and his body did not quiver as harshly as it once had. He began to make his way out of the bathroom to grab some clothes, but paused when he saw himself in the mirror.

Tony studied his reflection. He looked _awful_. The punch he had received from Hammer was fresh, a prominently disgusting mix of purple and blue. There was also a large purple bruise under his right eye, and smaller, less obvious bruises were scattered around his face, all presumably from Howard.

He looked down towards his stomach and cringed. It looked even worse than his face. Bruises were splayed all around his stomach and chest; Some were fresh, appearing a stark blue and purple while others were older, fading to sickening greens and browns.

His eyes lingered on his neck, the feeling of having the life choked out of him fresh in his mind. Tony half expected to see finger-shaped bruises run along his throat. A chill ran down the teen’s spine, and he shook his head, again trying to forget the cruel realism of the nightmare.

It’s not like having nightmares was new to the genius; Tony’s definitely had his fair share of being woken up in the middle of the night from some horrific image created in his mind. Its just… Howard had never drawn blood in any of them. He had never gone as far to actually try and _kill him._

Tony didn’t want to look at himself anymore; it made him feel far too nauseous. He needed to finish getting ready though, so he threw on the first outfit he could find which consisted of a dark blue pair of jeans, a white tee, and an unbuttoned flannel. He also applied a layer of makeup to cover up all the bruises on his face except the one from Hammer; he didn’t want people to start asking questions.

Running down to the kitchen, Tony grabbed an energy bar and quickly said his hellos and goodbyes to Jarvis. The butler looked at his ragged appearance with worry, but before he could voice it, Tony made a hasty exit to the car waiting outside.

During the car ride, Tony thought about what people would be saying when he walked in. He had no idea what the student body had thought about the “fight” between him and Hammer.

Now with that going through his mind, Tony thought about his saviors. Steve, Bucky, Clint, Thor, the whole gang had helped him avoid being pummeled by the jerk.

Wait.

He had completely blown them all off, especially Steve. He had told them to _back off_. Why’d he do that?! And now he’s going to have to deal with all of them throughout the day, seeing as he has most of them in his classes and the entire group is in his lunch. (Though Tony thinks he can just hide out in the janitor’s closet during lunch again. It’s not like anyone knew he had spent most of his time in there yesterday, right?)

He needs to make it up to them somehow, or at least make sure they know he acknowledges the fact that they saved him from getting his ass handed to him by Hammer. Hopefully they wouldn’t try to approach him individually; Tony thinks that dealing with them one-on-one would be even more damaging to his ego than dealing with them all at once would.

With his thoughts settled and the car arriving to school, Tony steps out ready to deal with the judgmental stares from his peers. After yesterday, it’s to be expected…

(As much as he tried to prepare himself for the whispers, it still doesn’t become any less unnerving.)

*****

The first two of Tony’s classes passed by in relative calmness. None of “The Gang” (as he so generously started to call them) are in his first two hours, and none of the other students had the guts to confront the billionaire.

Tony isn’t so lucky in his third class, however. He hopes Coulson wouldn’t try to ask him about his slip up, and even if Tony didn’t _see_ Rogers’ questioning gaze in his rush to leave, he _knows_ he must have been looking at him, wondering what the actual fuck was so messed up about him.

With any luck, Rogers will just leave him alone. He’ll have taken the hint that Tony didn’t want anything to do with the larger blond.

Tony’s never been so lucky, though.

The second the genius steps into Coulson’s classroom, Rogers’ eyes are on him, and the blond opens his mouth and raises his eyebrows as if he wanted to call out the younger teen’s name.

Before Steve has the chance to approach him, the bell rings. Tony throws the most pissed-off glare he can muster up in his worn-out state and hopes Rogers can just _take a fucking hint._

Rogers closes his mouth, a concerned glint appearing in his eyes. Though he looks like he still wants to say something to Tony, Coulson walks in the room and orders the class to take their seats. _Saved by the bell, I guess. Lucky me._

Ten minutes into the class, and Tony’s eyes widen in realization. He was supposed to be _thanking_ Rogers for saving him, not continuing to act like an ass towards him!

He groans in his head (he thinks it was in his head, at least. Did he make that noise?) and slams his head on his desk, catching the attention of his classmates and more notably, Coulson.

“Mr. Stark, what are you doing?”

He throws his head up. He hadn’t actually _meant_ to do that. It was supposed to be done mentally, honest…

And as much as he wants to just go back to daydreaming, Tony knows this is the perfect opportunity to assert the fact that he still is the spoiled rich kid, thank you very much. Just because he got tossed around by Hammer doesn’t mean he’s ready to throw away the mask he had so carefully sculpted.

“Uh, y’know, just trying to get some mental stimulation. You know your lessons aren’t exactly engaging, right?” He plasters on the most media-ready smirk he can come up with. (It’s been getting more and more difficult to come up with, Tony tiredly notes.)

Coulson doesn’t look impressed.

“Right, I understand how boring it must be for someone such as yourself to associate with us mere commoners. However I don’t care, Mr. Stark, sit up and pay attention. If you aren’t up for that, you know exactly where the door is.”

 _Ouch._ Who knew someone as old as Coulson could throw such heavy shade. Perhaps he’s just saying what everyone had been thinking… though Tony knows that shouldn’t come as much of a surprise.

Tony just grunts out a response and goes back to his musings. He doesn’t care what people say about him. Its never bothered him before, so why is something one of his damn teachers said getting to him?

He stays silent the rest of the class. When the bell rings to dismiss them to lunch, Tony rushes out of the room as quickly as he can. He’ll say something to Rogers eventually, it’s just not a good time right now. That’s what he keeps telling himself, isn’t it?

During his walk through the halls, Tony finds his mind wandering back to last night’s nightmare. A chill crawls its way up his spine, and he shakes his head in an attempt to ignore the way his legs suddenly quiver.

After a quick trip to the restroom closest to his last class, he makes his way towards the now familiar janitor’s closet so he can be tired and miserable in peace and quiet.

However as he approaches the door, Tony finds himself bumping face-first into a broad and muscular chest that had been walking out of the restroom closest to his destination. He ungracefully falls to his ass.

_What the fuck?_

Tony looks up, prepared to make some demeaning remark like _hey, watch where you’re going asshole!_ Or something cliché like that. However when he meets the person’s eyes, the words are caught in his throat. The first thing he notices is _blue._

“Stark? Hey, my bad, are you okay?” Blue eyes says to him, and proceeds to hold a hand out to help him up.

Tony surprises himself by taking the offered hand, and when he straightens up, it clicks.

Tony had rammed face-first into the chest of _Steve fucking Rogers._

What are the odds? Does the universe hate him or something? Maybe it’s a sign that he needs to actually fucking talk to the gang, and maybe he’ll actually be left alone if he completes the task.

“Stevie, what was that sound?” And of course here comes James, more commonly known as Bucky, trailing behind right after Steve.

 _Yep_ , Tony thinks, _the universe must really hate me._

“Stark? Are you there? Tony?”

“Huh?” Oh. Apparently the two of them had been trying to get his attention. _What a great way to show my thanks_ , he thinks sarcastically.

“I asked if you were alright. I mean, you did just kind of run directly into me and fall to the floor…” Steve asks.

Why is this guy so concerned about him? 

“Oh, no, of course. I’m fine. I’ve taken worse, I can tell you that much Rogers.” Tony cringes. He really wishes he was better at communicating with his peers.

Bucky speaks next. “Right… well now that you’re here how about you come and have lunch with us and everyone else? They’ve all been wanting to know how you’re doing after that little run in with Justin.”

Tony raises an eyebrow. “Why would they care about how I’m doing?”

“Well you _did_ get punched in the face, you know. You’ve got a big ol’ bruise to prove it.”

He self-consciously raises a hand to his cheek. _You have no idea._ “Well you can tell your friends I’m fine. This is nothing.”

Steve and Bucky exchange a look. _What the fuck?_

“Okay, good to hear,” Bucky starts, “But I don’t think we’ll be able to convince them much ourselves. Clint’s kind of an ass like that, he’s gotta see it to believe it. C’mon, come with us.” 

He doesn’t give Tony much room to protest, since he’s now being dragged away from his original destination and towards the cafeteria.

Barnes’ hand rests on his shoulder as he’s led to the cafeteria. Tony attempts to hide a shudder, as the other teen’s hand could easily make its way from his shoulder to his neck. He wouldn’t even be able to protest what was happening before a strong hand would grip his throat and proceed to choke the life out of him…

He sighs, shaking the thought from his head. Instead, Tony finds himself too tired to protest any further, and figures it’ll be easier for everyone if he just gets this over and done with.

He’s pretty sure he hears Rogers whisper _“How’d you manage to do that just now, Buck?”_ and he’s almost positive Barnes is smiling and shrugging in response.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tony just can't seem to catch a break?! Don't worry, the worst of it has yet to come! (That's not too reassuring, is it...?)
> 
> Thank you again for reading!


	8. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony's chat with The Gang doesn't go according to plan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah, a new chapter. Again thank you all for the amazing feedback, I'm so glad so many people like this story so far!

Tony was so absolutely _screwed._

Here he was standing in front of the six most popular seniors in the school, all much older and bigger than himself, and he didn’t have a damn clue what do or say.

He really should have fought harder against Barnes when the brunet decided to drag him to the cafeteria. (Even though Tony knows he wouldn’t have won, but hey, he still had his pride!)

The Gang just looked back and forth between him, Barnes, and Rogers as though unable to believe the scene before them.

“Am I seeing things, guys? How the hell did you manage to drag Stark over here?” Clint said, baffled. He had really wanted to talk to the genius, but he had no idea how he was going to go about doing it. Guess Bucky and Steve solved it for him.

“Well, let’s just say I can be very persuasive,” Bucky starts, appearing to be overly proud of himself.

That annoyed Tony. It’s not like Barnes had convinced him to join them in the cafeteria, he was basically forced to do so! He voiced these thoughts out loud, not wanting the Gang to think he was softening up.

“Oh, shut it, Barnes. You and I both know very well you all but forced me to come here,” he turned towards Barton, “Don’t let this guy lie to you. I don’t want to be here, but everyone knows I couldn’t win a battle of strength with the guy. Ask Rogers, he knows I was dragged here against my will.”

Bucky rolled his eyes. “Don’t be like that, Stark. Everyone here knows we need to talk about what happened, anyways.”

Thor stepped closer to him. “Indeed. What happened with Justin Hammer was truly a disgrace, we all would just like to know how you are faring.”

They all nodded to what Thor had said, and even Bruce had decided to speak up. “You seemed really upset before you left, is all. We all know Justin can be a real jerk.”

Tony felt overwhelmed in that moment. Six pairs of eyes were all staring at him and expecting an answer. He almost wanted to confide to everyone in the group; he had a lot he wished he could get off his chest.

_No. I can’t let myself fall for their kindness. Confiding in them would only show them how weak I really am._

Tony had vowed to never show weakness again, and he damn well meant it.

He looked down. It was so tempting. He wanted nothing more than to let himself open up to these people showing him the first bit of kindness he’s experienced in years. Other than Rhodey, Tony’s never really had any actual friends before.

“Listen guys, I really appreciate the concern. Really, I do. You’re the first people in this school to want to talk to me without insulting me or beating me up,” he paused, “But I’m used to the people who do want to. There’re things you need to learn to just forget, and I think I’m one of those things. You guys have never wanted to talk to me before, so don’t go trying to be all buddy-buddy with me now just because I got knocked around a bit. I don’t need your damn pity.”

Finishing his little speech, Tony looked towards everyone in the group. They all had expressions with an emotion Tony couldn’t quite recognize. He just assumed it was all pity.

“I think we’re done here now, so if you folks don’t mind, I’ll be on my way…” Tony trailed off as he began to turn around and walk away.

“Stark! Wait, Tony, we don’t pity you if that’s what you’ve been thinking this whole time.” Steve reached out and grabbed the genius’ wrist, causing him to flinch at the contact. It went unnoticed by Steve himself.

Tony froze in his path, turning to give the blond an icy glare. “Rogers, you have three seconds to get your hands off me.”

“Stark, would you just listen to what we have to say—”

“I don’t care what you have to say! No one’s ever cared about me getting beaten up, so why the hell would I be okay with you suddenly taking an interest in me? That wasn’t the first time and I can damn well promise you it won’t be the last!” Tony was getting desperate. His heart was pounding rapidly in his chest, and his breathing felt more and more constricted the longer Rogers held onto his wrist.

Steve looked at him in shock, not expecting Tony to lash out at him in such a vulnerable manner. Even so, he didn’t let go since he didn’t want the younger teen to run away from them. “Tony, listen, I promise we’re not talking to you out of pity. We’re all honestly concerned. I’m sorry we never tried to talk to you before, but it just—”

“Just what, Rogers? Wasn’t convenient enough for you? Do you guys think I owe you something for saving me now, and you’re just trying to collect your dues? Fine, what’s new? How much do you want from me? A thousand?”

Steve spluttered. “Wha—Tony, no! You don’t owe us anything! Why would you even assume that?”

Tony’s breathing grew harsher; Steve still wouldn’t let go of him and his voice had raised a few levels in volume. They were getting looks from the other students in the cafeteria.

It seemed only Natasha was able to notice Tony’s distress. “Steve, let go of him.”

It went ignored. “Why would I assume that?! Well, fuck, I don’t know, maybe that’s because my money is the only thing anyone in this school thinks I’m good for?! I hear the whispers, Rogers! I’m not deaf, I know exactly what everyone in this little gang thinks about me!” Tony began to tug on his wrist, prompting Steve to let him go. It only caused him to tighten his grip, almost painfully.

“That’s not true, Tony!”

“It’s not? I guess I just magically made up the part where everyone called me a spoiled rich kid! You’re not even wrong, Rogers, I am! I have the good, easy life, I’ve never had a hard day in my entire life!” Tony felt like crying. He felt so trapped like this, so exposed. The only thing preventing him from sobbing from anxiety and frustration was repeating the mantra _Stark men are made of iron, Stark men are made of iron, Stark men are made of—_

“Okay, that’s enough! Steve, let go of him! Can’t you read between the lines, punk?” Bucky yelled. He had previously just been watching the exchange between Stark and his best friend, but after Natasha pointed out the genius’ terrified look, he felt the need to break it up.

Steve was oblivious to the younger teen’s deteriorating state, but didn’t question his best friend and let go of Tony’s wrist. “What do you mean, Buck?”

As soon as Tony was free from Steve’s death grip, he fell to the floor. It felt like his heart was going to pound itself out of his chest; his breathing continued to grow harsher, coming out in labored and panicked puffs; and his vision became foggy and blurry.

Tony tried to calm his erratic breathing, he really did, but no matter how much air he attempted to gulp in, nothing would work. He couldn’t breathe. _Shit, shit, shit, I can’t breathe, why can’t I breathe?! I’m going to suffocate, I’m going to—_

This feeling of suffocation seemed terrifyingly familiar to the genius, but in his disoriented state, he couldn’t remember where he knew it from.

Tony was now pathetically curled up into a ball on the floor of the cafeteria, the teens he was talking to unconsciously making a shield around the young teen to protect him from curious eyes. Tony’s knees were pulled up to his chest, his head resting atop of them, and his hands on top of his head, fingerings holding a vice-grip in his hair. All that could be heard from him was his unsuccessful attempts to suck in a breath of air.

Tony vaguely registered a hand gently falling on top of his shoulder. “Tony, I need you breathe with me, you’re making yourself hyperventilate. Breathe in with me, and breathe out. You can do it. Just follow my breathing.” The genius followed the instructions given to him, and slowly but surely his breathing became less erratic, and he found himself able to take in normal amounts of air once again.

The young teen lifted his head up from his knees, and looked around. Right in front of him with a steady arm still resting on his shoulder was Natasha, who he assumed was the one to help him calm down. Behind her stood Bucky and Steve, the former lightly holding the latter back from approaching. Bruce and Thor were on either side of Natasha, ready to help the small brunet to his feet when he was ready, and Clint, to his surprise, was crouched behind Tony in case he fell over. There was a fair amount of space between him and the group of teens sans Natasha, so he didn’t feel overcrowded. He found himself grateful for that fact.

“Are you with me, Tony?” Natasha asked, the concerned glint in her eyes hard to miss.

“Uh…” Tony found himself struggling to speak. What was he even supposed to say? How was he supposed to explain to them that he just had a panic attack because Rogers made him feel trapped and vulnerable, all too similar to how Howard makes him feel?

“Shh, it’s okay, take your time, you’re safe here.” Tony had no idea Natasha could be so… gentle. He almost believed her.

However Tony found that even after a few minutes had passed, he still couldn’t speak. Rather, he began to see black dots come and go through his vision. He just now remembered that he had only gotten two hours of sleep last night, and between going to bed at four in the morning and being woken up by a cruel nightmare, those weren’t very good two hours of sleep. Tony was just so tired, and Natasha kept telling him it would be okay, that he was safe…

Bearing the redhead’s kind words in mind, Tony decides to forget the weight of the world and finally accept the tempting pull of sleep. Just before his world goes black, he hears someone call out, “Clint, catch him—!”

*****

To say that Steve was absolutely terrified would be an understatement.

He hadn’t wanted to start yelling at Tony, hadn’t wanted to leave him so terrified for his own safety that he collapsed to the floor. He hadn’t been thinking clearly when he grabbed onto the genius’ wrist; hadn’t thought of the kind of reaction it would induce.

They all watched as Natasha talked Tony through his panic attack, watched as his breathing slowly returned to a normal rate. When he was finally able to lift his head up and look at the rest of them, he looked exhausted; Steve berates himself for not noticing sooner.

“Are you with me, Tony?” Natasha says, ever so gently. Even Clint is surprised by the amount of caution present in the redhead’s voice.

“Uh…” is the genius’ eloquent response.

“Shh, it’s okay, take your time, you’re safe here.” Natasha knows exactly what to say to him, as though she has dealt with someone going through a panic attack before. Steve finds himself extremely grateful for Natasha’s presence right now. If she hadn’t been here… well, let’s just say Steve wouldn’t have had the slightest clue on how to calm Tony down.

Tony doesn’t say anything, even after a few minutes pass by. Steve begins to grow even more worried, and starts to walk up towards the genius to ask if he’s okay before he’s stopped by Bucky’s arm whacking him on the chest. “Not now, punk. Natasha knows what she’s doing so let her handle this before you make things worse.” Steve knows not to take his words to heart, and the blond teen knows he’s in no position to disagree. He takes a few steps back to his original spot, letting Natasha continue her ministrations without interruption.

That’s before Tony’s eyes roll in the back of his head, though. The genius looks around the group one last time before his chocolate eyes fall closed and he passes out, starting to fall backwards.

Steve begins to dash towards the brunet, but with a shout from Natasha, “Clint, catch him before he hits his head!” Clint beats him to it. The teen was already crouched behind the younger teen, prepared to catch him if he fainted.

Clint rushes forward to grab Tony, and he places a head on the back of his head and lowers him to his lap.

Clint gulps. “’Tasha, what’s wrong with him?!”

“Nothing serious, Clint. I’m pretty sure he just fainted from exhaustion. Pick him up, he needs to go to the nurse’s office.”

As Clint makes a move to stand up and grab hold of the genius, Steve steps forward and extends his arms. “Here, I’ve got him, Clint.”

Clint gives him a look but doesn’t protest. He helps Steve guide the small teen into his arms as Steve hooks an arm under his knees and the other on his back, now holding him bridal style. It’s the least he can do, after all.

None of the other students dare say a word as the gang solemnly walks out of the cafeteria, making their way towards the nurse’s office.

*****

The group soundlessly arrives to the nurse’s office, and Steve automatically goes to gently set Tony down on one of the beds. When he straightens back up, Steve takes a second to look at the genius’ appearance. His skin is unnaturally pale, a huge contrast to the sun-kissed color his skin usually appears. The difference makes the bruise on his cheek all the more obvious, and Steve winces. It still looked very painful.

There are also huge dark purple bags under his eyes. Does this kid even sleep? (Steve knows he must, seeing as him and Bucky had found him napping in the janitors closet not too long ago. Come to think of it, how tired must he be to settle for crashing in that dirty old place, anyways? Doesn’t he have some luxurious bed at home?)

“Mr. Rogers, you’re in the way. Move.” Steve is pulled out of his thoughts by the nurse, who looks annoyed at him for just standing directly in the way of her patient. Blushing, Steve apologizes and backs away from Tony to stand next to Bucky.

After a few minutes, the nurse turns to face the group of students. “It’s what I expected, he’s just exhausted. From the looks of things, he didn’t get too much rest last night and having a panic attack sucked any of his remaining energy out of him. It’s best he stays in bed the rest of the day, but he’ll be fine.”

The group collectively lets out sighs of relief. They all knew Tony would be okay, but it was always reassuring to hear it out loud. Plus witnessing the genius break down right before their eyes was scary, they just had to make sure he’d be safe.

The nurse looks at them. “I need to go and call his parents so they can bring him home, but as for you lot, you need to leave. Classes already started, so I’ll write you passes but you can’t stay here.”

That didn’t make Steve too happy. “Miss, is it alright if I stay with him until his parents come to pick him up? I’d feel a lot better if someone were here to watch him, and I know you’re busy.”

The nurse gives him an unimpressed look, but agrees. “Fine, but only you. Don’t make any noise or disrupt anyone else or I’ll kick you out, understood? And you need to go to class once Tony’s parents get here.”

“Understood, ma’am. Thank you.” Knowing Tony wouldn’t have to be alone made Steve feel a lot better. He felt extremely guilty, because Tony having a panic attack was pretty much his fault. He had been oblivious and hadn’t been paying attention, and the genius had to suffer for it. He had to make it up to him.

Waving his friends goodbye, Steve pulled a chair up by Tony’s bed. He spent a few minutes browsing his phone, but grew slightly restless.

Steve turned towards the sleeping genius, mildly caught off guard by the surge of protectiveness he felt. He wasn’t sure when he had started to feel this way towards Tony, but he knew he wasn’t the only one. All of his friends had wanted to stay and guard the brunet, but they knew not all of them could. They were glad at least one of them was there to watch him.

Steve reached out of brushed a stray stand of hair out of Tony’s face. It was surprisingly soft, and Steve found himself gently combing his fingers through the teen’s brown locks. When Tony released a content sigh in his sleep, Steve found himself fondly smiling.

How had he been so wrong about him? Steve hasn’t really had a decent conversation with the genius yet, but he’s already so incredibly fond. Looking at the teen’s lax face as he slept, Steve knew this teen wasn’t the selfish and spoiled rich kid the entire school believed him to be. This was just Tony Stark, and he was just as afraid and vulnerable as everyone else; he was just better at hiding it.

When the door creaked open, Steve jumped and rushed to remove his hand from the teen’s hair. He didn’t know what Tony’s parents would think of some random boy playing with their son’s hair.

Steve stood up to greet them, but was surprised when an older man walked in. There’s no way this was Howard Stark, right?

The man looked towards the bed Tony was in and sadly smiled. He walked forward and held a hand out to Steve. “Hello, I am Edwin Jarvis. Thank you for watching over young Sir for me.”

“It was no problem, Sir. I’d do it again in a heartbeat. My name is Steve Rogers, are you someone from Tony’s family…?”

“Oh, not quite. I am the Stark’s family butler. Mr. and Mrs. Stark are… unavailable at this time, so I came in their place to bring Master Anthony home.”

Unavailable? What did that mean? Howard Stark is the owner of a billion dollar company, but surely his son comes first, right? Steve knows that if he had been the one to pass out at school, his mom would have left work immediately to come make sure he was okay. Steve didn’t want to be rude, though, so he didn’t question it.

Instead, he offered to help take Tony to the car. “I have Tony’s bag here, and I can help carry him to the car if you’d like…”

Jarvis smiled at him. “Thank you very much, Mr. Rogers. I’d appreciate that. Follow me.”

Combing his fingers through the brunet’s hair one last time, Steve picked the genius up and followed Jarvis outside to the car.

“Place him in the back seat, please. Make sure he is buckled up.”

“Of course.” Steve carefully set Tony down in the car and buckled him in. Steve found himself wondering when he’d wake up, and how much he’d remember from what had happened. Even though he knows Tony will be okay, he still finds himself worrying over the genius and wishing he could go to his home with him to watch over him. Steve knows it’s a ridiculous sentiment, but he can’t help it.

“Thank you for your help, Mr. Rogers.” Jarvis says. Steve smiles and nods his head, then watches as Jarvis gets into the car and speed off.

The air around him is strangely quiet, Steve thinks. He lets out a sigh and makes his way back inside the school, going to grab a pass from the nurse.

Lunch is long over by the time Tony is gone, and fifth hour is about half-way through. He knows Bucky is waiting for him, so he hurries along to class and quietly steps inside, handing the teacher his pass before going to his seat next to Bucky.

“So?” Bucky says.

“So what?”

“How’d it go? Is Tony okay? Did you get to meet Howard Stark?”

“Uh, not exactly,” Steve begins, “I mean, Tony will be fine, he was unconscious the entire time. His dad wasn’t the one to pick him up, though. Someone named Edwin Jarvis? He said that Tony’s mom and dad were unavailable, whatever that means, and that he was their family butler.”

“Tony’s parents were unavailable?”

“Yeah, Buck, I don’t get it either. I know Howard Stark is probably very busy running his company, but I know my mom would drop everything to come and make sure I was okay…”

“I guess there’s not much we can do about that, Stevie. And we shouldn’t assume anything, either. At least we know there was someone to come and get him. To be honest, I’m just glad he’ll be okay. Whatever happened to him, it was pretty scary.” Bucky’s voice was quiet.

“I know, Buck. I know it was.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And now we can finally see how The Gang's protectiveness for Tony is developing. It's nice to finally write more of their interactions, even if most of them have been angsty so far. It won't always be like that, I promise!  
> I hope everyone enjoyed the chapter!


	9. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rhodey is a good best friend and Tony learns that talking about his feelings actually doesn't suck.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love the idea of Tony and Rhodey's friendship, so I had some fun with it. Hopefully everyone enjoys!
> 
> A warning: Lots of swearing, nothing out of the ordinary!

The second Tony blearily opens his eyes, he regrets everything. He feels disorientated and heavy from exhaustion, and his mind feels slower. Hell, he doesn’t even know what time it is or how long he’s been out! Why was he sleeping anyways, wasn’t he just at school?

That’s all it took for the him to throw himself sitting upright, eyes shooting open and any previous exhaustion leaving him as he’s filled with a rush of adrenaline.

Tony finds himself rushing out of bed while the words “Shit, what time is it?!” fly from his mouth. When the teen spots his phone, carefully placed on the end of his nightstand, he turns it on to reveal the time as 7:42 PM. How is that even possible? Did he just sleep through school or something?

Taking a second to recollect himself, Tony thinks back to the last thing he could remember. He definitely knew he woke up and left for school this morning, so what could explain how he ended up in his room at this time? He never went to bed this early!

Wait. Oh.

_Oh shit._

Flopping himself back onto his bed, Tony released a groan. How could he have forgotten? He had made a weak fool of himself in front of the entire school! What would they all think of him now, knowing he was pathetic and weak and that he couldn’t keep his emotions in check enough to the point that he ended up practically sobbing on the floor from a panic attack? 

He rests his eyes for a minute and sighs. He hadn’t meant to yell at The Gang, and he especially didn’t mean to yell at Steve. It was just that… when the larger blond had grabbed him, prevented him from making the choice to leave, he felt trapped. Steve was a large guy, and having someone like that loom over him and raise his voice like that… it reminded the genius far too much of Howard. Tony’s pretty sure that’s why he even freaked out like that in the first place. Steve’s actions reminded him of when Howard would get mad and take his anger out on him.

He was being ridiculous, wasn’t he? Who cares what made him freak out, he still did it and there was no doubt in the young genius’ mind that Howard would find out, if he didn’t already know that is. He was definitely in for it, considering he broke one of Howard’s most important lessons. _Never show weakness, Stark men are made of iron._

Tony had once constantly tried to prove to that man that he wasn’t weak; that he was _strong_ and he was _worthy_ of the Stark name. But at this point, he had long given up on trying to prove his worth to Howard. 

“Fuck, how in the hell am I supposed to explain that to them?” Tony quietly whispered to himself, rubbing his hands on his face in exasperation.

He really had to stop making a fool of himself in front of those people. Why was it always them? Usually Tony had no problem keeping up his ‘billionaire-asshole act’ in front of the entire school, but throw in Steve Rogers, Clint Barton, and everyone else from that group, and he somehow became an anxious walking pile of disaster. Hopefully he can just get away with saying he was having a bad day, and some stress had just gotten the better of him; that usually worked with the press.

Rhodey would know what to do. Tony really should give him a call.

With that idea in mind, Tony calls his best friend. As per usual, he picks up within the first three rings.

“Hey, Tones, how’re you—”

“Rhodey-bear! Just the man I wanted to talk to! How’re you doing?”

Tony hears the older teen sigh through his phone, though can hear the smile in his voice as he says, “I’m doing great, Tony. I’ve really been making some progress here.”

That causes Tony’s smile to widen. “I’m glad, Honey-Bear. I’m proud of you, you deserve the best.”

“Thanks, Tones. What have you been up to?”

“Oh, you know Rhodey, the usual. Being a genius and inventing world-changing pieces of tech, avoiding Howard, doing events to get Stark Industries some good PR, making a fool of myself in front of the entire school…; all just the usual.”

“Uh, Tones?”

“Yeah, Rhodey?”

“What’d I miss?”

The brunet sighs. Even through his rambling, Rhodey was able to catch the one thing that was really bothering Tony. It shouldn’t be that surprising, to be honest, considering his best friend already knew about all of the shit he had dealt with in the previous days. There was no point in playing pretend with Rhodey; the anger and frustration that Tony had been building up finally got some release.

“I messed up, Rhodey. _Again_. I don’t know what’s wrong with me, really, I don’t, I feel like the more I try and act like how Howard wants me to, the harder it gets. I keep messing up and making a fool out of myself and keep doing things that I know for sure Howard would be pissed about, and its _so fucking frustrating_ because I know I can’t let myself be weak. I know how I need to behave, yet I keep fucking screwing up! There’s gotta be something wrong with me, right? What idiot can’t keep their emotions enough in check to the point they end up practically bawling on the floor?! Why am I such a fuck up?!” The frustration could be heard in the younger teen’s voice; by the end of his rant, his voice had slightly risen an octave and he spoke faster.

Rhodey was silent for a few seconds, though to Tony it felt like hours as his breathing nearly grew erratic, then, “You’re not a fuck up, Tones. You’re the most brilliant person I’ve ever met, and if Howard’s too much of a damn fool to see it, then that’s on him, not you.” He didn’t know the full story with Tony’s dad, but he knew enough from the way his friend spoke about him to know that they didn’t have the healthiest of relationships. “What happened today, Tony?”

“I fucked up, Rhodey. I really, really, fucked up.”

“You’re going to have to be more specific, Tony.”

Looking down, Tony gave himself a few seconds to calm down. After a few deep breathes, he continued. “Do you remember those people I always talk about, the ones that go to my school and saved me from getting my assed handed to me by Hammer?”

“Yeah, what were their names? Sean and Cameron…?”

Tony let out a puff of air, presumably a chuckle, and said, “Not quite, sweetie-pie. There’re a few of ‘em. Steve Rogers, Clint Barton, James Barnes—”

“Oh yeah, I know that guy! He has a nice name—”

“Quiet, dear, let me speak. There’s also Bruce Banner, Natasha Romanov, and Thor Odinson. They’re basically the Breakfast Club of my school; all incredibly different people, but somehow, they make it work. They’re the most well-known and popular kids there. As you know they saved me front getting royally fucked up by Justin Hammer, but I basically told them all to fuck off when they first tried to ask if I was okay.”

Tony really regretted being an ass like that to Steve. Maybe if he had just stuck around a few minutes longer to thank the Gang and assure them that yes, he was fine, a bit bruised up, but fine, then today’s whole ordeal might not have happened.

“Anyways, I never said thanks to any of them and truth be told, I didn’t plan on it, but of course the universe just loves Tony Stark so I had to go and knock my face into Steve Rogers’ chest—”

Rhodey started laughing, pretty loudly too. “Damn, Tones, I didn’t know you liked the guy so much—”

“Shut up, Rhodey! I fell to my ass, it was _humiliating!_ ” Tony finds himself laughing along with his friend.

“Right, right, sorry Tony. I’m sure your ass is still sore from the fall, huh?”

“Yes! Don’t make fun of me, Honey-Bear, Steve is like a foot taller than me! Even just running into his chest packs a punch!”

“I’m sure it does, Tony.”

“You suck. Anyways, as I was saying, I ran into Steve and Barnes as they were getting out of the bathroom. I was heading to the janitor’s closet, y’know? Probably to take a nap or something, I can’t remember at this point.

Steve helped me up, what a guy, and they tried to start a conversation with me! With _me_ , Rhodey! I’m an asshole! Apparently, the whole Gang was still worried about me after what happened with Hammer, what idiots, I’m obviously fine, but stupid Barnes dragged my sorry ass to the cafeteria to talk with him. He kept saying the group wouldn’t believe I was okay unless I told them myself. It was bullshit if you ask me, Rhodey.”

Rhodes didn’t interrupt his friend with any more teasing comments, as he noticed his friend’s voice grow softer and softer the farther into the explanation he got. Tony had stopped speaking and didn’t say a word for a good 30 seconds.

“Tony?”

“I really didn’t mean to fight with them, Rhodey. I really didn’t. I was… I was getting frustrated, I think. Having a bad day. I didn’t need to act like a careless asshole, but I did. I tried telling them I was okay, they didn’t need to worry, I’ve been beaten up before, but they just kept _pushing_. Steve… he grabbed my wrist…” Tony falters at this, ready to backtrack on his words. “You know, never mind, Rhodey, I’m probably just overreacting—”

“No, Tony, I promise you you’re not overreacting. Please tell me what happened.”

“Steve- he just- he grabbed my wrist and he _wouldn’t let go!_ I told him to let me go, I tried to shake him off, but he just tightened his grip! I was _terrified_ ,” It alarmed Rhodey how soft his friend’s voice had gotten, “I was terrified that he was going to hurt me, Rhodey. He reminded me of… of someone who hurt me before. I was afraid it was going to happen again.

I think Natasha noticed something was wrong, I remember her yelling, and I remember Barnes yelling at Steve, too. When he let me go I just kinda… fell to the floor? I don’t really remember what happened after that, but I do know I had a panic attack. A _panic attack_ , Rhodey! No one knows I have a problem with those other than you and Jarvis! No one! And now the entire school probably knows now because I had a really bad one right in the middle of the fucking cafeteria!”

“Tones… I know you don’t want to hear this, but it’ll be alright. You’re a senior, in a year you’ll be out of there and no one will remember this. It’ll blow over, it always does. You’re strong, Tony. And if anyone has a problem with it, you come to me. I’ll beat their ass for you.”

“It’s not that simple, Honey-Bear… I passed out, too. I don’t remember what happened before or after that, to be honest. I think Natasha calmed me down, I remember her voice and red hair… but how I got from the cafeteria and to my bed, I have no fucking clue.”

“You passed out? It must’ve been a pretty bad attack then, huh? You haven’t had one like that since…”

“Ever since Obie. It was bad, Rhodey. It was so, so bad.”

“I’m sorry, Tony. If you ever need to vent like that again, you know I’m only a phone call away. I wish I lived at home still so I could be there for you more. Just know this, alright Tones? Your dad is a fucking idiot. I know you haven’t told me the full story, but I’ve known you for a while, Tones, and I know somethin’ ain’t right. Those things he tells you, about you being weak? Those aren’t true. You are strong, Tony, and I don’t think showing the fact that you need help is a weakness. I think it’s a strength.”

Tony closed his eyes, carefully listening to the words of his friend. He spoke quietly even as he opened them. “You think so, Rhodey? Does that mean I’m not a fuck up?”

“You’ve never been a fuck up. There is nothing wrong with you, Tony. You’re perfect as you are, and even though you’re a fucking crazy genius, I wouldn’t change you for the world.”

Tony’s eyes felt incredibly heavy. It’s amazing how tiresome talking about your feelings was, however this wasn’t the creeping, bone-deep exhaustion he usually felt. This was… more peaceful. “That… thanks, Honey-Bear. I think… I think I really needed to hear that today.”

“I’ll tell you everyday if that’s what it takes to make you believe it, Tony.”

Rhodes didn’t hear a verbal reply from his friend. Instead he heard the steady lull of the young teen’s breathing, so he assumed Tony had finally fallen asleep and was about to get some well-deserved rest.

“’Night, Tony.”

*****

The next time Tony opened his eyes, he didn’t feel as tired. For once he actually felt like he had gotten a good night’s rest. Maybe there was some good to opening up about his feelings…

Speaking of which, he didn’t remember saying his goodbyes to Rhodey last night. He must have fallen asleep. _I’m never gonna hear the end of that one_ , he thought fondly. 

Looking at the time, the teen saw it was only 6:45 AM, meaning he was up about fifteen minutes earlier than usual. Tony decided to use those minutes to take his time in the shower, thankful that he had some extra time under the steaming water; Tony found the warmth of the running water to be relaxing.

At seven, the brunet stepped out of the shower, ignoring the mirror on his way to grab some clothes for the day. He really didn’t want to be reminded of the mess that made up his face and body, not when he was actually in a decent mood.

Lucky for Tony, it was finally Friday. This entire week had absolutely sucked, and he couldn’t wait for the weekend to roll around so he could finally see his best friend and hug him. He really missed hugging Rhodey.

Tony also knew that he really needed to talk to Jarvis about yesterday. He honestly had no clue what had happened after he passed out, and when he woke up at almost eight, it didn’t take long for him to fall back asleep after talking with Rhodey. Jarvis was probably worried.

Taking his time downstairs, he saw the familiar figure of the older man standing near the counters in the kitchen. As soon as the teen cleared the stairs, he quietly called out, “Mornin’, Jarvis.”

The butler quickly looked up towards the source of the voice, only to put on a relieved smile when he noticed it was Tony.

“Good morning, young Sir. Please, come have a seat and eat breakfast.”

“Sure thing, J.”

Tony silently took his seat and waited for Jarvis to sit down before he began to eat. He knew the man wanted to talk to him about what had happened, and after he had expertly dodged the butler’s questions the previous morning, there was no escaping this time around.

Jarvis folded his hands on top of the table, seeming to contemplate what he was about to say. “Master Anthony, I believe we really need to discuss what happened yesterday when you were at school. I know you are not new to getting panic attacks, but I had assumed we had been doing a fairly decent job of avoiding any of your triggers. I need to know what happened to have caused you to react in such a way. You haven’t fainted from a panic attack in so long, not since… well, I need not say.”

Tony sighed. Yep, there was definitely no avoiding this. “I was just having a bad day, J. Someone did something that reminded me of something bad, and I panicked. That’s all, honest.”

“Young Sir, please do not downplay your emotions. Whatever happened has clearly greatly affected you, and I think it was a little more than a bad day.”

“Okay, you’re not wrong, but that wasn’t a complete lie, either. See this bruise on my left cheek?” He pointed to the still prominent bruise along his cheekbone. “This isn’t from Howard, surprisingly enough. I’m not safe even away from him.” Tony’s throat tightened at that; it was the cold truth. Was he really safe anywhere?

“I got into a… a fight with a kid named Justin Hammer. You’ve probably heard of Hammer Industries, that really lame weapons company that claims to be our rival. The founder of that place has a son who happens to go to school with me. We don’t get along, and one thing led to another, and he punched me. That’s where this beauty comes from,” he taps his cheek, “and a group of seniors stepped in and saved me from getting pummeled by him.”

“Master Anthony, I wish you would have told me you were being bullied. That is unacceptable, you should not have to fear being hurt at school. I am sure I can convince your father to get you out of that school and straight to MIT. You wouldn’t have to worry about that boy there.”

“No! No, J, I don’t want to leave. Believe it or not, but I actually do kind of like feeling like a normal teenager. It cost me a lot to convince Howard to let me go here, I doubt he’d be happy with me if backed out of it. It’d just give him another reason to call me weak.”

“I understand, young Sir. But that still doesn’t explain why I got a call from the school saying you had fainted and needed to be picked up. You’re very lucky Sir wasn’t the one to pick up the phone, I am sure his reaction would have been… less than pleasant.”

“I know I’m lucky, J, he’d have beaten me as soon as we got behind closed doors, even if I was already unconscious.”

“You wouldn’t have to worry about him at MIT, Master Anthony. He could not hurt you there. I often fear for your safety when you’re here, and I am powerless to stop your father when he is angry.”

“I don’t want to go to MIT yet, Jarvis.”

“I know, young Sir. Please continue.”

Tony sighed. He had a feeling he’d be sighing a lot today. “Right. Well those kids that saved me wanted to talk to me. One of them dragged me to the cafeteria to talk, and I ended up fighting with them. Not physically, but you know how I get. One of them, his name is Steve, grabbed me by the wrist and it just reminded me of Howard. I panicked. That’s all there was to it, J, promise.”

Jarvis released a small hum. “Steve, you say? Steve Rogers?”

That caused Tony’s eyebrows to instantly shoot up in surprise. Now how the hell did Jarvis know Steve? “Uh, yeah? How’d you know that?”

Jarvis smiled, as if he knew something Tony wasn’t quite aware of himself. “He was there when I went to bring you home. After you fainted, they brought you to the school’s nurse and I was told he stayed with you until I arrived. He was quite the gentleman, he even carried you to the car himself.”

Tony’s face flushed a light pink at that. “You’re kidding, right, J? He carried me?!”

The butler let out a chuckle. “Yes, young Sir, like a damsel in distress.”

Tony gasped, mortified at the threat to his pride. “Jarvis!”

“I only speak the truth, Master Anthony.” Jarvis stood up, motioning for Tony to do the same and then gently tugging him into an embrace. “You must be on your way. I’ll see you when you get home.” Jarvis let the genius go and looked him in the eye. “Please keep this in mind, Master Anthony. I think those kids care very much about you. Don’t push them away.”

The young teen didn’t say anything to that right away, instead he simply squinted his eyes in confusion. “Right, got it. Bye, J.”

Tony exited the mansion and made his way to the car. He always used the ride to school as his mental preparation for the day. This time, he came to the decision that he was going to properly talk to the Gang, and more importantly, Steve Rogers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So my plan for next chapter is to have Tony have a proper chat with the Gang, and following that, there's going to be some fluff with Tony's weekend out with Rhodey! (I plan to make it a bit more interesting than that though, so that's something to look forward to!)
> 
> I hope you liked the chapter and thank you so much for the continuous support! I love all of the feedback so, so much.


	10. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> For once, Tony doesn't feel like the weight of the world rests on his shoulders.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The wait is over!  
> A quick thanks to everyone for the incredible support this fic has been receiving. I read all of the comments but haven't quite been able to respond to them all; but I promise I see them and I appreciate them so, so much! I love reading what you think!  
> Please enjoy the new chapter!
> 
> A warning to some swearing, but do I honestly need to say it at this point?

Tony was determined not to fuck up today.

It was finally Friday, and one day away until he finally got to see Rhodey, there’s no way he can go and screw anything up now! Not when he’s so close.

The teen had spent his first two class periods mentally preparing himself for his confrontation with Steve. It was hard to focus, considering people wouldn’t stop giving him looks, but a quick glare in their direction sent any onlookers running. No one had the guts to go up to Tony Stark.

Tony made sure he arrived at Coulson’s class early, waiting for the moment Steve would walk in. Luckily it didn’t take too long, though for some reason, Tony just can’t seem to stop running face first into the larger teen. He had gotten bored of waiting inside the room, so he made a move to walk outside and try and find Steve out in the hallway. Of course, however, since the universe just loves Tony Stark, the moment he walked through the door he was met with the broad chest of none other than Steve Rogers.

Grunting from the impact, Tony squeezed his eyes shut and waited for the inevitable pain as his ass hit the floor; however, it never came. Instead, the genius felt a strong pair arms wrap around his waist and help him back up to his feet. Tony had instinctively stretched his hands to help cushion his supposed fall, but when he felt the support of another set of arms, he unconsciously held onto the person’s shoulders.

“Oof, shit, that was close. What the hell?” Tony looked up, big chocolate eyes staring curiously into the person he bumped into. He really shouldn’t be surprised that it was Steve at this point.

“Tony! I’m so sorry, we always seem to run into each other like this. Are you okay?”

“Steve…” Tony had quietly whispered to himself, failing to hide the shock at yet again colliding into the blond’s chest, “Uh, okay, yeah, I’m fine. Fancy seeing you here.”

So caught up in the surprise, Tony nearly didn’t notice their rather… interesting position. Steve was basically holding him in his arms. Tony quickly let out a nervous chuckle and gently dropped his arms from the blond’s shoulders. Steve took the hint and released Tony’s waist, a faint dust of pink evident on his cheeks.

“Tony, I—”

“Steve, look—”

They paused awkwardly, both waiting for the other to continue. Tony didn’t want to give Steve the upper hand here, so he opened his mouth to speak, but was unfortunately interrupted by the warning bell. The genius really didn’t want to have this conversation later, he’d probably lose his confidence by then, so in a spur-of-the-moment decision he says, “Hey Steve, how do you feel about skipping class?”

“Wha—skipping class? I mean, I don’t usually do it.”

“Perfect, there’s a first time for everything. Come on, follow me.” Tony motioned towards the taller teen and full on sprinted away from the classroom.

“Jesus—Tony! Where’re you going?! Wait up!” Steve ran off after the brunet, narrowly avoiding running into other students hastily making their way to their classes. It took all of five seconds for Steve to catch up to the shorter teen, but he figured he’d humor him and continue the chase.

“Hurry up, Rogers!”

Tony eventually slowed to a stop in a remote corner of the school, right in front of a large window with a nice view of the sky outside. This was one of the teen’s favorite spots to hide away. There weren’t any classrooms in this corner of the school, so there weren’t usually that many people around. It was nice and quiet, and away from prying eyes. It made Tony feel peaceful.

Lightly panting from the exertion of his spontaneous run, the genius surprisingly kept quiet and just somberly stared out the window, his back turned to Steve. Even after a few minutes had passed and the bell signaling the start of class had rung, he did not utter a single word.

Steve stared at the back of the brunet’s head, curiosity enveloping his thoughts. He wasn’t quite sure what Tony’s game was here, but the scene he set up was far too rare to ignore; he didn’t want to speak first in fear of breaking it. Steve had just… never seen Tony look so solemn. In every other circumstance, the genius was always moving, always talking, always larger than life. Here… he looked calm; peaceful. The blond found himself wishing he had brought his sketchbook so he could draw the way the sunlight gently painted the other teen’s features and the way his hair had poofed up, flying in all sorts of directions but still looking incredibly soft. 

The spell was eventually broken when Tony sighed, turning around to look Steve in the eyes, brown meeting blue. He had taken that moment to recollect his thoughts; running into the blond like that had frazzled his mind and in the moment of panic he had decided to run. Not the most ingenious idea Tony had ever come up with, but at least with this way he’d be able to talk to Steve without worrying about others listening in. 

Of course, however, Tony was never one for words. He could fake charisma all the live-long day, but when push came to shove, the brunet had absolutely no idea how to handle _real_ social situations.

That’s why the first thing he managed to say was, “Listen, Steve, so about yesterday’s fuck-up…”

 _Fuck-up?_ Steve thought.

“…I really need to say sorry for how I behaved. I was being an ass for no reason, call it pride, I don’t know, but you and your friends didn’t deserve to put up with my shit, especially after you guys helped me the other day. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, though I’m pretty sure you have ‘cause you aren’t stupid, I don’t think you are at least, you seem smart, but I’m a huge asshole and I don’t make exceptions for anybody, which I _know, trust me_ , how lame…”

Steve was mildly stunned for a moment, taken aback by the genius’ sudden rambling. It was a complete change in atmosphere, and the blond really should just put the poor kid out of his misery before he rambled himself to death.

“Tony—” Steve tried to begin,

“I really didn’t mean it, I didn’t want to fight with you, it just kinda happened, and then you—”

“Tony.”

“I mean, I _passed out_ on you guys, that sucked, and I’m sure it sucked even more to have to deal with my unconscious body. That was incredibly lame of me, you know? Shit, well, I’m sure you know, duh, ‘cause apparently you carried me like a damsel in distress, thanks for that by the way, not for the whole bridal carrying thing but for helping me not die—"

“Tony!”

The brunet stopped talking mid-sentence, uncertainty written across his features. His cheeks shone a very mild pink, making his embarrassment for his sudden speaking painfully obvious.

“Uh, right, sorry. I’ll stop talking now.”

“That’s not what I meant, I think you just need to take a breather there. Why are you apologizing, Tony? You freaked out on us, yeah, and it definitely scared us a bit, but Natasha was there and knew how to handle it and you weren’t hurt. We were worried about you.”

“Okay, foot on the brakes right there, Cap—”

“Cap?”

“—you and your little gang of seniors are supposed to _hate_ me. Everyone at this school should. Why the actual hell would you care about how I’m doing? I’ve been nothing but an ass to literally everyone in this entire building.”

This wasn’t exactly how Tony envisioned this conversation going, but now that they were here, he found himself unable to stop. Curiosity played a huge part in this inability; he honest to god wanted to know why the fuck _Steve_ of all people would care if he passed out or got knocked in the face.

Steve looked down, focusing something not unlike a glare towards the floor. “I know we haven’t always gotten along Tony, and I’m really sorry that I never made an effort to get to know you. I tried talking to you a few times when you first started going here, but each time it always ended bad. I guess I was convinced that you were a jerk; but that’s not an excuse. I’m sorry I misjudged you. Think we can start over? Maybe one day you’ll actually be able to consider me a friend.”

Tony stared into blue eyes, shock written across his features. Never in a _million_ years did Tony think Steve Rogers wanted to become friends with him. And he misjudged him? Tony didn’t think that was the case, he was an asshole. He had treated Steve and his friends like trash.

Steve held out his hand in a friendly gesture of a truce. It took Tony a few seconds longer than he’d like to admit to process what Steve was going for, but when he did, he carefully lifted his arm and shook hands with Steve, the promise of a friendship blooming.

Mustering up any energy the brunet could find, he smirked. “It’s a deal, Rogers.”

*****

Tony and Steve had missed all of Coulson’s class, and by the time they were done talking, it was time to go to Hill’s history class. Tony, of course, wasn’t having this.

“Y’know, Steve, just go on ahead without me. I’ll, uh, see you around?” Shit, there was no was Steve was going to miss the hope evident in his voice. 

“Tony, you don’t have to avoid everyone else. They all feel the same way as me. They want to be your friend, too.”

The brunet looked down, the vulnerable act momentarily surprising Steve. He’s ashamed that he’s never noticed just how vulnerable the genius was. Steve always just chalked his jerkish attitude to the idea that that was just how Tony was; he had never thought it could be a mask to cover the chinks in his metaphorical armor.

Taking a step closer to the brunet, Steve placed a delicate hand on his shoulder, exaggerating his movements as though he didn’t want to startle the other teen.

“Really, Tony. I promise. They don’t hate you— they never have.”

Tony looked into Steve’s eyes, chocolate orbs searching blue for any signs of dishonesty. He didn’t find any.

Sighing quietly to himself, Tony says, “Alright, let’s do this. I can’t make any promises about my behavior, though. I’m not notorious for my charming personality, y’know.”

“I wouldn’t expect you to be anything but yourself, Tony. There’s nothing wrong with that and I’m sorry we made you feel like there was…”

 _Ew, more emotions. I feel itchy,_ Tony thinks to himself as he and Steve begin to walk. He’d never been good at expressing himself, and he’d like to think that him and Steve had gotten the gooiest and sappiest portions of their conversation out of the way. “Nope, no, Rogers. Let’s not go there anymore. I don’t blame you for thinking I was an asshole, I mean, I am! Let’s just… get this over with. All of this talking about my feelings nonsense is making me sick.”

Steve snorts, “Right, I nearly forgot that you and emotions don’t get along. Luckily for you, I get along with them fairly well; I have no problem teaching you.”

Tony raises a brow teasingly, “Is that a threat, Rogers?”

“No, of course not, Tony,” Steve chuckles out.

When they arrive outside of Hill’s class, Steve pauses, holding up one finger and motioning for Tony to wait where he was. The blond walked into the classroom, and not even minutes later, walked out with Bucky, Natasha, and Clint following close behind.

Steve looked incredibly smug as he walked out, leaving Tony to question what he had said to Hill to get the four of them out of class.

Steve spoke first, “I know none of you were expecting me to come in late to class and force you out, but me and Tony talked over what happened yesterday and we need to catch you guys up to speed.”

They looked at Steve as he talked, then all three heads turned towards Tony expectantly, as if waiting for him to confirm what the blond said.

That made the genius a bit uneasy, but it was nothing he couldn’t ignore. “Uh, yeah, about yesterday. Sorry. I didn’t mean to fight with anyone or spontaneously pass out, but hey, I’m Tony Stark, can you really expect any less from me?”

Natasha stepped slightly closer saying, “Tony, you had panic attack. You don’t need to apologize for that.”

Clint nodded his head. “Yeah, Stark. If anything, we should be the ones apologizing; its not like you freaked out for no reason, so one of us must have triggered you, right?”

Damn. Tony really had been hoping that they’d ignore the fact that something triggered him.

Steve looked down at him, guilt filling his blue eyes. “Tony?” 

“Uh, shit, I was kind of hoping you guys would ignore that part. Y’know, how about we just ignore it? It’s not important, right? Right. And Jesus, Steve, stop looking at me with those puppy dog eyes. I can’t take it.”

“Tony,” Bucky started, “It’s important. We can’t just ignore it if something one of us did made you have a panic attack. We need to know what it was so we can avoid doing it again in the future.”

“This whole situation kind of sucks,” Tony said, “Everything on top of what Hammer did got to me. It was built up stress and arguing with you guys just lit the fuse. That’s all it was…”

“C’mon, Stark,” Clint says, “You and I both know that that’s a load of bullshit.”

“Aw, Barton, are you calling me a liar? My feelings are hurt.” Clint just scowls at him. Tony isn’t too sure if it’s because he knows Tony is lying or if he still thinks Tony is nothing more than a spoiled asshole. 

“Tony?” Fuck, Steve is looking at him again with the largest and bluest puppy dog eyes he’s ever seen. It really isn’t fair, Tony doesn’t stand a chance.

He closes his eyes. Tony really didn’t want to say what had caused him to freak out. Not only would it make Steve feel incredibly guilty, it would also allude to the fact that Howard was an ass that decided smacking his son around was a nice way to occupy his free time. Maybe they would just think it was from being knocked around by Hammer… bullying can cause people to freak out, right? 

“Okay, okay, you got me. Just for the love of god, Steve, don’t look at me like that. It’s not as bad as you guys are making it out to be.”

“You can be honest with us, Tony.” Natasha says, and damnit, Tony really can’t lie to her, not after he found out she was the one that had helped him calm down and not die from hyperventilation.

“Right. Listen, when I said I was having a bad day, I wasn’t lying. A lot of stuff was going on at ho— at… at school, and I was really stressed. I mean, you saw how Hammer treats me, yeah? He’s even more of an asshole then I am, and he’s way more obvious about it too. Anyways, my point here is that he treats me like shit. He had no problem punching me. Lots of people have no problem punching me; like I said, he wasn’t the first and he won’t be the last. I’m just really… I don’t like being touched because of it. It’s kinda like a reflex, you know? So when we were fighting, my flight or fight response was kicking into action, and then Steve grabbed me by the wrist—don’t you dare feel guilty about it, Rogers— and I panicked. He wouldn’t let go, and it… it just reminded me of all of the people who have no problem putting me in my place.”

The four of them were silent. Tony couldn’t tell if his excuse worked; but it’s not like he had been lying _completely_. A lot of that was the truth, he just hadn’t been completely honest about the details. 

Steve and Bucky exchanged looks, having a silent conversation Tony could never even hope to understand. 

As he had predicted, Steve had an incredibly guilty look in his eyes. “Tony, I—”

“Don’t start with me, Rogers. I already said I don’t want to hear it. I don’t blame you; its not like you knew I’d freak out.”

“Still, Nat noticed something was off, and even Bucky did. I—I should have noticed, too. I’m sorry.”

“C’mon, Cap, what have I said about me and emotions?”

“They make you feel itchy,” Steve cracked a fond smile.

“They make me feel itchy! So stop it. I forgive you, if that’s what’ll help you sleep at night, but personally I don’t think there’s anything to forgive in the first place.”

“Okay, that works. I’m still sorry, Tony. I won’t do it again.”

“Thanks, Steve.”

*****

After that, the five of them had returned to Hill’s class. Tony still had no idea what Steve had done to get Natasha, Bucky, and Clint out, but he decided not to question it. 

When it was time for lunch, Tony was getting up and was prepared to head off towards the janitor’s closet, as per what had turned into an unfortunate routine. He was, however, surprised when it was interrupted by none other than Barnes.

“Hey, Sta— Tony. Where do you even go during lunch?”

“Uh—”

“Come join us for lunch. I’m sure Thor and Bruce want a chance to talk to you, anyways.”

“I really don’t think that’s a good idea, Barnes. I mean, look how well it turned out yesterday.”

“This time is different. We won’t pester you about what happened, and if Thor starts asking anything that makes you uncomfortable, I’ll stop him. This isn’t an interrogation; think of it more as just hanging out with friends during lunch.”

“Hanging out with friends…? Hold on a damn second, since when do you consider me a friend?”

“I guess I can’t say we’re friends right now, Tony, but I’d like to change that. We all would, Steve especially.”

Tony’s eyes slid over to where Steve was, putting away his notes and pencils into a red and blue backpack. Clint and Natasha were standing up next to his desk, and as Steve stood up, the three of them walked in the direction of Tony and Bucky.

Steve sent a smile towards him. “We won’t force you to join us, but I—we’d really like you to. Not just for today, either, but every day. Only if you’d want to, that is.”

Damn, Tony was really hating the fact that he had trouble saying no to these people. Maybe it was because somewhere deep down, hidden in the darkest part of his soul, was the desperate need to be surrounded by people who accepted him; people who liked him, wanted to hear his ideas, wanted to just get to know him and like him for him. Not his money, not because they were forced to. All of his life, Tony had been surrounded by people who had taken advantage of him, people who have hurt him. He can’t remember a time somebody honest to god just wanted to be his friend.

He felt a spike of pain run through his chest. The genius closed his eyes and tilted his head down, taking a carefully long breath of air. When he looked up, he smirked, saying, “Alright, if you guys want me in your little gang so badly, who am I to refuse?”

The smiles the four of them sent his way were blinding. Huh, Tony usually didn’t have that affect on people. Usually people scowled at him or wrinkled their noses in disgust if he wasn’t waving around a wad of money or expensive toys. This feeling… it was new, but far from unwelcomed. 

Clint and Natasha came up to his sides; Clint on his right and Natasha on his left. Clint gently put a hand on his shoulder and began leading him towards the cafeteria. “Well come on then, Tony. Bruce has been dying to talk to you, he loves science and stuff.”

Tony made a face of admirable disbelief. “He does?”

“Yup! The guy’s crazy smart, he’s always going on about how he’d love to just have a conversation with you. He’s gonna be psyched!”

Tony couldn’t help the smile that made its way onto his face. He had always wanted to talk to Bruce; he knew the teen was incredibly intelligent and he had always wanted to just sit down and fanboy about different experiments with him.

When they made it over to the usual table, Tony hesitated. This was _The Gang’s_ spot. Was he really welcome here? 

“Anthony!” Came a booming voice. Tony looked over and found it to be Thor making his way over to the other side of the table with Bruce following alongside him. “It is great to see you again! How have you been faring since yesterday’s misfortunes?”

“I’ve been doing fine, big guy, thanks.”

“A joyous discovery!” Thor and Bruce sat down on one side, with Natasha going over to sit next to Bruce and Clint next to Thor. That left Tony, Steve, and Bucky on the other side with Tony in the middle. “I am glad you have decided to join us. You are always welcome here, never forget.”

Tony smiled, honest to god grateful and overwhelmed by how easily Thor welcomed him into the group. He turned his head over to Bruce, and found that the teen had been staring at him, his mouth slightly open. Smirking, Tony said, “Hey Bruce, I hope you’re okay with me intruding in on your lunch hour as well.” 

That snapped the other teen out of his daze, and with slightly pink cheeks, he responses, “Of course I don’t mind, Tony. If anything… I’m amazed you’re actually here. I hope you don’t get sick of Clint as quickly as the rest of us.”

That earned an undignified “Hey!” from the teen in question.

Tony ignored that, instead saying, “I hear you’re pretty smart, right Banner?”

“U-uh, I guess, I’m definitely nowhere near your level of intelligence but—“

“Awesome! I’ve got a bunch of blueprints and designs for projects I never got around to finishing, maybe you’d want to look them over with me—?”

“Yes!” Bruce says, a little too excitedly. He clears his throat, saying “I mean, that’d be amazing, Tony. I’m sure Clint has already said something to you, because he sucks at keeping things to himself, but I really admire your work. You’ve been able to make some seriously impressive things for Stark Industries, I have a hard time believing you’re only fourteen…”

“I guess intelligence doesn’t always come with age, huh, Bruce?” 

Bruce smiles. “I think you’re right, Tony.”

The others had been caught up in their own conversations, not so subtly listening in on whichever conversation Tony was in. Eventually, after Tony had gotten a bit more comfortable talking to them, they were all joking and laughing as one big group. It was the happiest Tony had ever felt in a while.

“—And Clint thought it would be a good idea to run in there without any of his clothes—” 

“Wait, not even boxers? His junk was free for the viewing?”

“Oh yes, even more free than good ol’ Stevie here, who was born on the Fourth of July—”

“What! Steve, how was I not aware of this? I need to buy you some spangly outfit to wear for your birthday, even your cake would be red, white, and blue—”

“Tony! That’d be completely embarrassing and very unnecessary.”

“Hey, wearing the appropriate birthday attire is never unnecessary—”

“Anyway, Tony, get this, it was in the middle of the damn day when Clint ran in there, fully nude. There were families in there, Tony! I think he scarred some five-year-olds for life.”

“That—That is incredibly hilarious. Barton, what were you thinking?”

“I didn’t have a choice, Stark! It’s not my fault a bunch of kids stole my clothes! And you, Bucky, promised you wouldn’t tell anyone else!”

“Hey, nobody outside of our group knows. And now Tony’s apart of it, so he deserves to know.”

Tony looked at Bucky at that. They had been sitting here for nearly 45 minutes, the lunch period almost over. 45 minutes wasn’t a very long time, but the genius already felt so incredibly happy and comfortable with this group of people. Is this what having friends felt like? And did they actually feel the same way?

Steve must have been able to see the confusion on his face, because he gently patted his back and said, “See, Tony? You’re one of us; we all want you to be, at least.”

Tony looked at Steve, a smile on his face. “I’m actually glad I ran into your chest, Steve. I want to be friends with everyone, too.”

After a bit more mindless chatter, lunch was over and it was time for everyone to head to their next class. Before parting ways, Steve said, “Hey Tony, we’re all planning on getting together this weekend. We have a movie night at least once a month; we shop around town for the day and when it gets late, we go to someone’s house to watch movies and spend the night. It’s at Bucky’s tomorrow, do you want to join?”

Tony’s smile shrunk slightly. He would have loved to, really, but tomorrow was the day he was finally seeing Rhodey. There’d be other days for him to hang out with the Gang, he thought.

Everyone looked at him expectantly, hoping he would agree to join them. 

“I’d love to, Steve, I really would, but not tomorrow. An… an old friend is coming to visit me, and I barely see him, but he finally has some time to come home. I appreciate the offer, but how about next time?”

Steve smiled at him. He looked slightly disappointed but understanding. “Of course, Tony. Next time for sure.”

*****

The rest of the day passed by smoothly, albeit slowly. Tony was very excited to finally see his Rhodey-bear again. 

When he got home, he was incredibly thankful no one was around. Howard was off at a meeting, so for once he didn’t have to worry about being punched in the face first thing after walking through the door. Jarvis was out, as well, most likely running some errands for Howard.

Tony felt lighter than air and he walked around with a bounce in his step. For once Tony didn’t feel like he was being suffocated. He didn’t feel like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders. Tony felt… good.

He quietly thought to himself if this is what being happy felt like.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for being so patient! April was a hectic month for me, but things are dying down so hopefully I'll have some time to write. My goal is a chapter every week or two, so we'll see if I can manage it!
> 
> Thank you again, I hope you liked the chapter!


	11. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony and Rhodey's day of shenanigans featuring surprise guests.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we go, my dudes! This is a longer chapter, my new record of 5,000+ words.
> 
> Also, real fast, to anyone asking about this fic, it's far from over! I refuse to not finish this fic, and there's still a lot of stuff I want to write. I'm not too sure how many chapters I plan on having, but for now, expect about 20 chapters, give or take. It all depends on where I decide to go from here!
> 
> With that said, please enjoy!  
> A warning to some bad language, but would it really be Misbehavior without it?

Finally. It was finally, finally, _finally_ Saturday. 

Tony had struggled more so than usual to get through the week, but somehow he had managed and now, he’d finally be able to see Rhodey! Tony’s mind was all over the place, the anticipation and excitement of seeing his friend working him up.

He had even woken up early just so he had the time to make sure his day with Rhodey went perfect. He needed the perfect outfit, the perfect wallet (Because his Honey-bear deserves to be spoiled), and the perfect attitude. He’s hoping nothing will come along and fuck up his day, but at this point Tony has no idea how things will go; he can only hope for the best.

Looking at the clock, it read 10:07 AM. Tony and Rhodey had agreed to meet up in town at 10:30, where there were lots of shops, cafes, arcades, and everything else under the sun. 

The brunet had chosen to dress casual, his outfit consisting of a pair of dark blue jeans, light brown boots, a dark gray buttoned-down sweater, and an olive-green jacket with the sleeves slightly pulled up. Taking a look in the mirror, even Tony had to admit that he looked good. His hair was styled nicely, his skin was glowing, and his smile was bright and genuine. His clothes covered up the worst of his bruises, and anything else visible could easily be covered up with makeup. He was proud to say that for once, he did not look like shit. _Okay, that’s a good start._

He had about 20 minutes to get there on time, and even though Tony was usually always late to everything else, he felt personally obligated to be there early. He hadn’t seen in best friend in so long, there’s no way the brunet would keep him waiting.

Rushing downstairs, he slowed to a stop at the bottom of the staircase. Howard was walking through the front door. His throat tightened with fear, and the genius submissively kept his head down, not wanting his day to be ruined by one of Howard’s fits.

As soon as Howard was in the house, he made his way to go upstairs. Tony was standing right in the way, not knowing the older man had planned on going past him.

Pausing in front of his son, that icy disapproval was back and Tony felt shivers run up his spine. It would be so easy for Howard to reach out and wrap his fingers around his throat, and Tony would be powerless to stop him…

The older man didn’t pause for long, merely seconds, and didn’t say a word. He glared at Tony and with a rough hand on the young Stark’s shoulder, shoved him out of the way. The genius lost his balance, stumbling to the side and into the railing of the stairs. He kept his eyes glued to the floor and as soon as Howard was out of sight, dashed towards the door. He wouldn’t let him ruin his day with Rhodey, especially before it had even begun.

 _Fuck Howard_ , Tony hisses in his head as he feels a slight ache in his shoulder.

Stepping outside, the air was calm. It was mid-December so there was a bite of cold in the air, but since he lived in California, the temperature never usually dropped below 50.

Tony had made the executive decision to walk to his destination, thinking a car would be too excessive. Besides, it never hurt to get some fresh air. Tony thinks he really could do with it more often.

It isn’t that far of a walk anyways.

As soon as he arrives, he’s surrounded by all sorts of different shopping plazas with equally different people. If Tony wasn’t usually so busy with Howard’s projects, he thinks he would enjoy coming here to people watch. Especially since today was Saturday, it was much busier than usual. Tony hopes he won’t have trouble finding his friend.

Speaking of which, he’s having trouble seeing over the heads of people. Even with lifts in his shoes, Tony isn’t very tall. It irks him to no end, always having to look up to look someone in the eyes, but on most days he’s able to ignore it when Howard isn’t busy mocking him and wishing he _had a son that could reach the top shelf, you’re pathetic, Anthony._

His little height issue is blatantly obvious in this kind of setting. Pushing his insecurities to the back of his head, he focuses on his mission: find Rhodey.

He spends the next few minutes weaving his way through crowds of people, trying his best not to get trampled in the process. Tony nearly made it to the center of town where he and Rhodey agreed to meet, when he sees a familiar head through the mounds of people.

“Rhodey-bear!” He cries happily, immediately starting to sprint towards his best friend.

Rhodes’ head turns at the cry of his nickname, and his face spreads into a fond smile as he sees the younger teen run towards him. He walks forward with his arms open as Tony grabs hold of him into a tight hug, and Rhodey reciprocates the hug just as strongly.

“Rhodey! I missed you so much, Honey-Bear, you have no idea.” Tony happily mumbles into his friend’s shoulder.

“I missed you too, Tony. It’s been too long.” Rhodey replies, resting a cheek on top of the brunet’s head.

They hold the position for a few minutes, both simply happy to be able to see their friend again and not wanting to let go.

Tony eventually pulls away, but not out of reaching distance. He rests both of his hands on Rhodey’s shoulders while Rhodey rests his hands on his waist. To anyone else, the position would seem oddly intimate for a pair of friends, but to Tony and Rhodes, that’s just how they’ve always been and neither one finds it to be awkward.

“Okay dear, we’ve got a busy day ahead of us! I know you can only stay for the weekend, and you need to spend time with your family too, so I want to be able to do as much as possible with you before you have to leave. Just say the word, Rhodey, whatever you want. Nothing has a price tag today, okay?”

Rhodey smiles down at his friend. “Come on Tones, lets walk around and go to that candy store you love so much. My treat.”

Tony releases his shoulders, saying, “But Rhodey, I don’t want you to do anything for me. I can afford anything you want, please let me do something for you.”

“Tones, I know you can afford almost anything, but that’s not the point. You can’t spoil me if I’m not allowed to spoil you. Now come on, there’s an entire store filled with candy calling your name.” The older teen says as he releases his friend and begins to walk.

Tony wants to cry. He loves Rhodey so fucking much. He’s the one person Tony actually trusts and knows would never use him for something petty like his money.

Smiling, Tony follows Rhodey to the candy store.

*****

“Tony, is this really a good idea?”

“Of course it’s not, Rhodey, but since when have I been known for my good ideas?”

Rhodey almost regrets buying Tony so much candy at the start of the day; he had been snacking on it throughout the day and since Tony rarely eats overly sweet things, he’s going on a bit of a sugar high.

The older teen had been able to keep his friend in check as they walked around for the most part, but how they got into their current situation, he couldn’t really say.

They had just gotten out of the movie theatre after spending an hour and a half watching some cheesy horror film and making fun of it’s unrealistic CGI together. Tony being Tony couldn’t just walk out of the theatre and find something else interesting to do, no, he had to go exploring into places they most definitely weren’t allowed to be at. 

He had found a door that was obviously meant for employees only with a small code pad by the door handle, and since his best friend is a genius, he was quickly able to manipulate the device and unlock it. 

So here they are, sneaking around the upper levels of the theatre and narrowly avoiding being caught by any onlookers. 

“Hey Rhodey, look at this!” Tony points to a door with large, bold letters that say “CAUTION” on it.

“Tony, you know I think you’re incredibly smart, but doesn’t the word caution usually mean we shouldn’t go near it?”

Tony wasn’t really listening, already messing with the lock on the door. The small light flashes green and in a matter of seconds, the large door is open.

“Do I really want to know how you’re able to do that so fast?”

“Probably not, Rhodey.”

For some odd reason, the way Tony said that sounded wrong. Was Rhodey missing something here? When he looked at Tony to question him, the shorter teen had already run off into the room. _Oh well_ , Rhodey thinks, _that’s a conversation for another day._

The room seems eerily ominous for some reason. Its overall pretty dark, and the room is lit with dim red lights. There’s a path marked out on the ground with yellow and black stripes, and the room is filled with loud and large machines that Rhodey has no idea what they do.

“Woah, Rhodey! Look at this place! I’m pretty sure this is where they control all of the different screenings and stuff.” Tony says with a mischievous glint in his eyes.

Oh no. That look meant nothing but trouble with Tony. “Oh no, Tony, don’t get any weird ideas. I know that look. That look always happens before you pull some crazy stunt that we’re definitely not allowed to pull.”

“But that’s what makes it so fun, sweetie-pie!” Tony says as he pulls out his phone and walks towards one of the machines.

Each machine has a screen next to it, showing which movie is playing and at what point in the movie the screening is at. There’s no one else up here, so Rhodey assumes most of this stuff is done automatically.

“Looks like this one is playing that animated kids movie. Do you know what this means, Rhodey?”

It clicked. “Tony. No.”

“Come on, Honey-Bear—”

“Tony, I can guarantee you this is one of the stupidest stunts you’ve tried to pull, we’re gonna get in trouble—”

“Less talking, more working!”

“Tony!” Rhodey can’t help it, he starts cackling. This whole stunt is incredibly stupid, yes, but the idea itself and the way Tony is so dead-set on doing it is absolutely _hilarious._

“That’s it, Rhodey! Just sit back and let me work my magic.”

“We are so screwed, Tony, you know that?”

“Shh, dear. I’m almost done.”

Soon, the screen goes black. Rhodey peaks through the window where the projector is, and sees the people in the theater, many younger kids included, stand up or look around in confusion.

“Got it!”

The screen lights up a few seconds later, and Rhodey hears screams. 

Tony peaks through the window next to Rhodey and falls to the floor, laughing loudly with tears coming from his eyes. Rhodey soon joins him.

“Tony! You—you are an absolute m-maniac! We’re so dead!” The older teen says, choking a sentence out through his laughs.

Tony doesn’t say anything, instead hides his face in Rhodey’s arm, his laughs muffled by the fabric of his jacket.

“Tony, did you hear the screams? I don’t want to imagine how many little kids you just scared the shit out of.”

“I think this was my best idea yet, Rhodey-bear.”

“I think you might be right, Tony. Changing a screening from playing a kid’s movie to a horror film is pure evil, but I think it suits you.” He says as both their laughs die down into giggles.

Suddenly, they hear a loud sound from outside the room, following the sound of footsteps. Oh shit.

“Shit, Rhodey! We’ve been caught!”

“Damnit Tones, I knew this was going to happen! We gotta get out of here!”

The only way out is the way they came in. Their only hope of escape was waiting until the door opened and then making a break for it.

“Okay Rhodey, first off, let me just say I love you and if I don’t make it out of this alive, you can have all my stuff.”

“Don’t be so dramatic, Tony, worst comes to worst we’ll just get caught and they’ll call our parents.”

“Yeah, that’s… let’s just not get caught then.”

“Tony?”

Their conversation is cut short, however, when the large door creaks open and three people who appear to work at the theatre walk in with flashlights.

In a moment of panic, Tony grabs hold of Rhodey, yells “Run!” and makes a break through the door. 

The workers obviously hear, and one of them yells “Hey!” as the chase begins. 

Tony was never really great at running, and he manages to fall down some stairs as Rhodey runs behind him shouting “Tony!” but somehow, they manage to escape. 

They run outside of the theatre and straight through the plaza, ignoring the strange looks they receive from people they pass. By the end of it, they’re under a tree in on of the plazas next to an electronic store they visited earlier, both huffing and puffing.

They stay silent for a few moments, but that doesn’t last long as they burst into laughter all over again.

Rhodey really loves having Tony in his life. The younger teen always keeps him on his toes, and he’d do anything to protect the teen he was quickly able to call his best friend.

*****

Tony and Rhodey spent the rest of the afternoon in town, and by 4:00, both were pretty tired and hungry.

“I’m starving, Rhodey. I think I’ve done enough running around to last the rest of my life.”

“Me too, Tones. How about we go to that café we passed a few minutes ago?”

“Yay! That means coffee. Let’s go, Rhodey!”

The two friends walked over to the café. It was small, but very modern and it had a nice atmosphere. Tony could see himself visiting this place more often, so long as they have decent coffee.

They ordered their food, Tony refusing to let Rhodey pay, and sat down. It was pretty peaceful; the small buzz of people surrounded them and the music playing in the background made Tony feel really relaxed. Perhaps he was just more tired than he realized; he felt his eyes drooping shut. Nothing coffee couldn’t fix.

The two sat in silence, just enjoying each other’s company.

“Tony?” A voice called.

“Hmm?” The young teen peered his eyes open to reveal, low and behold, Steve Rogers. What were the chances?

It didn’t really click that Steve was in front of him, waiting for a response. He sat there for a few seconds, ready to close his eyes again when Rhodey nudged his arm.

Shit. He quickly stood up in front of Steve, sending him a smile.

“Hey Steve, what brings you over to these parts?”

“Hey, Tony. I’m here with everyone else. Remember how I invited you to join us? This is basically our last stop before we head over to one of our houses. What brings you here?” Steve asks, smiling fondly. He hadn’t been expecting to run into the genius, but it quite a nice surprise.

“Oh! Right. I’m here with my friend. Well, he’s more than my friend, he’s like, my best friend and he’s great, his name is Rhodey and he’s finally home to visit—”

“Tony,” Rhodey says. He had stood up to stand next to Tony and introduce himself. “My name is James Rhodes. I take it you’re Steve?” He asked, holding out his hand.

Steve shook hands with him, nodding his head and saying, “Yes, my name is Steve Rogers. Nice to meet you. I take it you’re the old friend visiting that Tony had told us about?”

Rhodey smiles, puffing his chest out a bit more and straightening his shoulders. “That’s me. I go to a military training school so I don’t live at home.”

Steve senses the challenge. It confuses him, but he’s never one to back down. He stands just a little straighter and tightens his grip of Rhodes’ hand, the gesture being reciprocated by Rhodey as well. “Oh, really? That’s pretty neat, my dad was in the military.”

“Was he? So is mine. I’m hoping I’ll be able to outrank him one day.”

“Okay, what’s going on? Are you two done comparing dicks now or should I back off and go find Thor?” Tony interrupts. 

Steve flushes, realizing that he and James had been basically having a passive aggressive stand-off. He hopes no one else had seen it, but a quick look to the seats his party had chosen tells him otherwise. Bucky is there next to Clint, the two of them waggling their eyebrows at him as Natasha smirks and Bruce quietly laughs in his direction. Thor, having no shame, throws him a wide, teasing grin and waves.

Rhodes notices the group as well, laughing to himself and putting a hand on Tony’s shoulder. “Yeah, Tones, we’re done. Nice to meet you too, Steve.”

Steve, his face still tinted pink, says “Well, now that we’re all here, why don’t you guys join us? We’re all going to Bucky’s once we finish eating, and you’re welcome to come if you want. We usually just watch movies or play board games until we all get tired.”

Rhodey doesn’t answer, looking over to Tony who takes the hint. “Yeah, sure, Steve. Let us grab our food and stuff and we’ll join you guys.”

Steve smiles and nods his head, then proceeds to go back to their table and sit down. Tony and Rhodey, in the meantime, grab their things as Tony teases, “What was that back there, Honey-Bear? Did your masculinity feel threatened by the man that is Steve Rogers? Just wait until you meet Thor.”

“Ha, ha, Tony, very funny.”

“What? I’m not the one having a dick measuring competition with Steve Rogers. That guy is huge.”

“You know, I thought you were exaggerating when you said he was a foot taller than you. But you’re right. The top of your head barely comes up to his shoulders, even when you got those custom lift shoes you always wear.” Rhodey says teasingly.

“Hey! Not cool, honey. I’ll have you know I still have plenty of time to grow. But you, dear, are pretty much stuck where you are. Who’s the one with the advantage here?”

They made their way over to the table where everyone else was seated. Tony was really happy with the whole ordeal; he had a bunch of people that he enjoyed being with in one place! Overall, it was a pretty great situation in his opinion. 

Everyone introduced themselves, and things for the most part went smoothly. Of course, as Tony had expected, Rhodey gripped Thor’s hand a little harder than he did with everyone else, much to Tony’s amusement. He couldn’t really blame him though. If Steve was huge, Thor was a giant. How were these guys teenagers?

Everyone happily chatted away as they ate. Tony and Bruce had gotten into a pretty heavy discussion over the physics of flying cars and whether or not it was actually possible, and then how to make it possible. With someone like Bruce by his side, Tony has no doubts about being able to pull it off.

Tony was the last one to finish eating, and when he did, it was time to head over to Bucky’s house. Tony was pretty excited. Other than Rhodey, he’s never actually been over to a friend’s house before, let alone stay the night.

“My parents and sisters aren’t home. They had a field trip over the weekend that my parents decided to go to with them so thankfully, we have the house to ourselves.” Bucky had declared.

“Why didn’t you go with them?” Bruce asked. 

“Y’know, wasn’t really my kind of thing. They’re both part of some history club at their school so they’ll be spending a lot of time at different museums and stuff. My dad likes that sorta thing and my mom didn’t want to leave the three of them alone together, so she tagged along. Plus there’s no way I’d miss movie night. I love doing these.”

“Me too,” Steve agrees.

Luckily Bucky’s house wasn’t too far of a walk, so it was almost 5:45 by the time they got there. 

“Alright gang, I’m gonna go get the popcorn and drinks ready. Since this is Tony’s first movie night, how about he and James pick out what we watch first?” Bucky starts.

“Sounds good. I’ll help you out, Bucky. Hey Steve, you should show Tony where Bucky keeps all of his movies.” Clint says, waggling his eyebrows at Steve yet again. He and Bucky walk to the kitchen and Natasha gets up to follow them as well.

Steve hates how easy it is for people to make him blush. “Right. They’re in his room. Come on, I’ll show you.”

Tony smiles, completely oblivious to the innuendo Clint had suggested. Rhodey wasn’t as unaware as Tony, and sent a protective glare Clint’s way, who merely snickered in response.

Tony came back with a stack of movies, all of which he plopped down in front of Rhodey. “Help me out here, Buttercup. Which one of these do you feel like seeing?”

Tony had grabbed about 15 different movies, all ranging from Disney movies like Frozen to action movies likes Mission: Impossible. Tony definitely liked a huge range of movies.

Bruce and Thor had plopped down next to Tony on either side of the young teen. The four of them discussed which movie they were in the mood for, and eventually settled on Mulan. Thor in particular was quite fond of this movie, saying how much he enjoyed watching how Mulan’s bravery saved all of China.

Bruce throws in the disc and sets the movie up just as Clint, Bucky, and Natasha return with popcorn, drinks (“No alcohol?” Tony had questioned. Steve responded by saying there’s no way he’d let a bunch of minors drink, not on his watch. Tony had laughed heartily and patted him on the shoulder), and various other snacks.

Bucky had also pulled out piles of blankets and pillows as everyone gathered around the screen. Tony found himself on the center of one of the couches, shoulder to shoulder with Steve on his left and Thor on his right. Rhodey sat on a pile of colorful blankets and pillows at his feet, claiming he wanted to be able to stretch out. Tony has a feeling he just wanted to see Tony smushed up next to two literal giants, but he can’t complain. It’s very warm and cozy, and Tony feels… almost safe. Like the moment he walked through the door, he left all of his demons outside. He found himself wishing he was always able to feel like this.

Bruce, Natasha, and Clint shared the other couch while Bucky took a seat on a reclining chair next to Steve. The entire atmosphere was very homey. 

When the credits for Mulan began to role, Clint demanded they watch The Hunger Games, claiming he was in the mood to watch Katniss kick ass with her bow and arrow.

When they finished the second movie, it was almost 9:00. Everyone took the chance to stand up and stretch out, while Natasha sneakily suggested they play a game of Monopoly. Tony, not knowing what horrors that would cause, agreed with her. None of them had the heart to say no to Tony.

Bruce had to explain the game to Tony, surprised that he had never played before. It didn’t take long for the youngest teen to understand how to play, and 30 minutes into the game, Tony had bought out nearly every single property and left everyone else completely bankrupt.

When Tony cost Clint the last of his money (he was the last survivor of Tony’s wrath), the blond teen couldn’t take it anymore.

“This is crazy!” He yelled, outraged. He flipped the game board and crossed his arms, pouting. “How the hell did you do that, Tony?! Never in all of my years of being the King of Monopoly have I ever seen someone so easily manipulate the other players like putty.”

Tony threw his head back, laughing. “What can I say? I am a genius.”

Rhodey laughed as well, saying, “That’s one mistake you can never make with Tony. Never forget that he is an actual genius. I learned my lesson the hard way.”

That made Tony completely freeze, looking wide-eyed at Rhodey. He knew exactly what the other teen was talking about. Rhodey stared back.

The two of them completely fell over, laughing so hard that a lot of the sounds got caught in their throats. Tony giggled, snorted, and laughed his heart out. The gang joined in the laughing, not knowing the story behind it but so completely enthralled with the young genius. Any of them would do anything to get him to laugh like that again.

“Oh my g—Rhodey! I can’t believe you willingly brought that up! Honey-Bear, you—you are amazing. My god.”

“Yeah, yeah, don’t get too excited Tony,” he looked towards the others, “That is definitely a story for another day.”

After cleaning up the many small pieces from Monopoly and safely storing the game away, they all agreed to watch one last movie.

“Frozen.”

“…What?”

“You heard me. Let’s watch Frozen.”

“Tony…”

No one could find it in them to say no.

*****

Everyone had been exhausted from their long day of running around town, Tony especially. They had all fallen asleep to the familiar sounds of Elsa’s voice singing “Let it Go.” 

Tony had been so caught up in how happy he was spending time with his friends that he completely forgot to let Jarvis or Howard know that he wouldn’t be home.

The sound of his ringtone woke him up. He was stretched on the coach, cuddled up against Thor’s chest with Steve lying on the brunet’s stomach. Natasha, Bruce, and Clint were all in a similar position, Bucky was sleeping away on his recliner, and Rhodey was stretched out on the floor, covered in blankets and pillows. 

It took Tony a few seconds to remember where he was, and then to focus in on the sound that had woken him up. When he did, and the clear sound of his ringtone made it through the fog of his sleepy mind, his eyes shot open. He tried to get off the couch, but alas, he was held down by the two giants. Steve’s weight was on his middle, and Thor’s arm was draped across his shoulder. It took a lot of careful maneuvering to get free, and when he did, he fell to the floor, waking Rhodey in the process.

Rhodey sat up, rubbing an eye to clear his mind of sleep. “Hey, Tones…?”

Tony looked at Rhodey, panic clear in his eyes. “Rhodey…” Tony said.

The older teen sat up, freeing himself from the mound of blankets to put a gentle hand on his friend’s shoulder. “Tony, what’s wrong? Why are you up?”

The genius didn’t answer, too busy trying to locate his phone and quietly muttering “Shit, shit, shit,” to himself. 

“Got it!” He quietly muttered when he found his phone. Tony shot up, making his way away from the living room to answer his phone without waking anyone else. Rhodey followed, not saying a word.

“Hello? Jarvis?”

“Master Anthony! Thank goodness.”

“Jarvis, what’s wrong? Why are you calling me at two in the morning?”

“I should be asking why you haven’t called me before now, young Sir. I’m afraid your father has been looking for you since seven o’clock. I was able to explain to him you were out with your friend, and he took that answer on the promise you would be home. He’s been waiting for you this whole time, Master Anthony. I fear he has grown angry at you not coming home.”

_Shit. Shit, shit, shit, shitshitshit—_

“Tony? What’s wrong? You’re starting to breathe a lot heavier. You gotta tell me what’s wrong, Tones—”

Tony shook his head, trying to clear his mind of panic.

“I—I’m sorry I didn’t call, Jarvis. Me and Rhodey ran into some people from school and we’ve been at one their houses watching movies this whole time. I guess… I guess I fell asleep during one. Is Howard—?”

“He is very upset, young Sir. I fear I am unable to console the man any further.”

“And… the longer I wait, the madder he’ll get and the worse he’ll…”

“I am afraid so, my dear boy.”

“I understand. I’m sorry, J. Tell him I’m on my way.”

The brunet hung up the phone, taking a slow, deep breath.

“Tony?” Rhodey asked. The genius hadn’t really been paying attention to the fact the Rhodey was there, listening in to every word he had said to Jarvis. If Rhodey had suspected something was wrong with his homelife at one point, this probably hadn’t been helping Tony’s case. He’d have to think of some excuse later, at another time when his mind wasn’t too busy panicking over the beating he was sure to be receiving. What could Howard even want from him? What had he done wrong this time? How had he misbehaved—?

“Tony!” Rhodey had been lightly shaking his shoulder in an attempt to grab the young teen’s attention. “Tony, what’s wrong? What happened?”

Tony looked up at him, a lump caught in his throat and his eyes appearing close to tears. “Rhodey, I have to go. Now.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And the plot thickens! I hope you weren't getting too comfortable with all of Tony's happiness.  
> Also, the description of that room in the movie theater is based off of the one where I work at. When I first got hired they showed us that area, so it is actually a bit accurate!
> 
> There's more to come! Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed it!


	12. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where a nightmare becomes reality.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we go. A quick thank you to everyone reading! Again, I'm so, so grateful for all of the feedback and I love reading everyone's comments, they make my day! Thank you for being so patient and please enjoy the new chapter!
> 
> A big warning: As you probably expected, there are a lot of graphic descriptions of violence in this chapter. Please, please read with caution, this is not for the faint of heart. (Also lots of swearing but that's not new!)

“Rhodey, I have to go. Now.”

Tony was sweating. He thinks he was, at least. That leaves the question of _why the fuck am I so cold all of the sudden_ , but Tony wasn’t one to dwell on much. He made a move to walk past Rhodey so he could grab his things and go before his little situation at home escalated any further.

Rhodey, of course, wasn’t having it. “Tony, what do you mean? It’s two in the morning, what on earth could you have to do at this time?” Rhodey wasn’t stupid. He saw the look his younger friend had in his eyes. There’s panic, fear, confusion maybe… and something else he can’t quite place. He put a hand on the genius’ shoulder, aiming to stop him from getting away.

Apparently that was the wrong move. As soon as his hand made contact, Tony cried out and flinched away with an almost desperate look now present in his eyes.

“Rhodes, you don’t understand. I have to go _now_. Let go!” Tony slapped his friend’s hand off, and made his way back to the room everyone was sleeping in to grab his things and leave.

The shuffling around caused both Steve and Natasha to wake up. The blond slowly sat up as his eyes came into focus and saw Tony rummaging around for his jacket and wallet. 

He yawned, saying, “Tony? Why’re you up?”

The genius stopped his movements for a moment, looking up at Steve with surprisingly watery eyes and giving him a smile. “I gotta go, Steve. Go back to sleep. You too, Natasha, sorry for waking you.” He said softly as he looked over at Natasha, who also gave him a sleepy curious look.

Rhodey came stomping back into the room. “Tony Stark, stop your moving right now! What’s going on with you?”

Tony looked down, refusing to meet his friend’s eyes. “Rhodey, I’ll explain later, okay? The longer I wait the worse it’s going to get…”

“The worse what’s going to get? You need to tell me what’s going on or I can’t help you, Tones.” He said gently. Tony was smart, Rhodey knew that. His friend never did anything without a reason; he always calculated every possible move and made the most efficient choice, but for some reason Rhodey had a feeling he hadn’t done that this time. He would have been explaining what the hell he was doing otherwise. 

“Hey, Tony?” Steve stood up, walking up to the short genius, “Go do what you need to do, okay? But you have to promise me something. We’ll all be here for a while, so come back when you’re done. We’ll be waiting for you here.” The blond smiled down at him.

“Woah, hold up Rogers,” Rhodey walked up to the two of them, “You don’t get to make that kind of call. If I remember rightly, you and your friends used to be jerks to Tony. You don’t have the right to tell him that, especially when I’m around.” 

“Rhodey! You don’t exactly get to tell me where I am and am not allowed to go either!” This really isn’t how Tony was hoping this would go. If he just let him leave… everything would be so much easier. He can already feel his punishment getting worse every second he’s at Bucky’s house instead of with Howard. “Neither of you understand, okay? Steve, I’ll come back after, I promise. Rhodey, stop trying to control me! You don’t have any more right to do that than anyone else in my life!”

“Tony—”

“No, Rhodey, let me talk. You know I love you more than anything in the world, Honey-Bear, but there are things that I have to do alone without your input. And the longer I’m here arguing with you two about this, the worse what I have to go and deal with is going to be! You think you’re helping right now but you’re not! You’re making it worse!”

With that, Tony went towards the door and walked out. Before closing it, he peaked his head inside and said, “I’ll be back, okay? I’m counting on you guys waiting for me.” The door clicked shut.

Steve and Rhodey looked at each other, both horribly confused and nervous. Steve spoke up, asking, “Does this usually happen with him?”

“No, this doesn’t usually fucking happen, Rogers. But I’ve known him long enough to know that it can’t be anything good. Damnit, why’d you tell him he could go?!”

“It’s not like I can force him to stay! Its not any of our business what he needs to get done. Isn’t it best just to let him go on the promise he’ll come back?”

“Listen here, Rogers, Tony is my best friend but he is only 14 years old. He’s just a _kid_. What the fuck kind of business do you think he needs to get done at 2 in the fucking morning?!”

“Boys!” A voice yells. Steve and Rhodes’ heads snap to the source of the sound, and find Natasha standing up and walking towards them. “Do you really think yelling at each other is going to help anyone figure out what’s going on with Tony? James, you know him better than either of us. Where do you think he’s going?”

Steve and Natasha look at him expectantly. He looks back, sighing. “I really don’t know. My best guess is that he’s going back home.”

“Why would he be freaking out, then? Is he in trouble for something?” Steve questions.

“Damnit Rogers, if I knew what was going on we wouldn’t be having this conversation. I don’t know if he’s in trouble. When I woke up he was on the phone with Jarvis, his family’s butler. He sounded upset.”

“So family business, then.” Natasha concludes. “If that’s the case then the best thing we can do is just wait for him to come back. We have no right to interfere in something personal.”

Just as Rhodey was about to respond, Bucky wakes up. He stretches out and mumbles out a “Mornin’, guys.” Steve takes the moment and walks over to Bucky, away from Natasha and Rhodey.

Rhodey continues after Steve is out of earshot. It’s better if he doesn’t tell a lot of people about his suspicions, anyways. He leans towards Natasha, and quietly says, “Haven’t we established the fact that neither of you know him that well? He and his dad don’t exactly have the best relationship. He’s never told me anything directly but I don’t think he gets treated the best over there.”

Natasha stares at him, narrowing her eyes. “Are you implying that Tony gets abused at home?”

Rhodes releases a frustrated sigh. “I don’t know! I think so, I think his dad treats him like shit because Tony never says anything about him even though he broke down on the phone because of that guy once! And he had this whole ordeal with someone close to his dad when he was twelve, and he never did anything to help Tony! He just let him get hurt! How can I not think he’s being abused?!” He spoke his words in harsh whispers, trying his best to keep the conversation strictly between him and Natasha. And when Rhodey looked over at Steve, the blond looked back at him and continued to talk to Bucky. At least he knew how to take a hint.

“Wait, what ordeal?” Natasha inquired. Just another missing piece she had yet to collect on the anomaly that is Tony Stark.

“Shit. Ignore that part, it’s really not my story to tell. That whole story was covered up on the media and nobody really knows about it expect a couple people Tony knows personally.”

“James, I can’t figure out the best plan of action without all of the details. Even if you’re vague about it, just tell me the basics.”

Grunting impatiently, Rhodey brought up a hand to rub the bridge of his nose in frustration. “Look, his dad let someone get away with hurting him. Really badly. They tried to force Tony to do something he didn’t want to and he still hasn’t fully recovered from it.”

“Someone?”

“Someone his dad worked with closely. His dad wasn’t exactly part of the planning, but when he found out he made no effort to get Tony back, so he may as well have been part of it.” He crossed his arms, looking away. “That’s all you’re getting out of me, I shouldn’t have even said that much.”

“Okay, I get it. You said his dad made no effort to get him back, so I think it’s safe to assume he was taken somewhere or kidnapped and tortured. Considering Tony’s a genius, I’ll also assume he was taken for reasons having to do with his intelligence. Am I wrong?”

“What are you, some secret agent? You should be having this conversation with Tony, not me.”

Finally Bucky and Steve stood up, joining the two near the door. Bucky looked a bit more awake, and Clint, Bruce, and Thor were still happily napping away in their respective spots.

“Okay, Steve caught me up a bit. Tony had to leave, why is that a big deal?” Bucky said.

Rhodey really didn’t want anyone else to know things about Tony that they shouldn’t. He bravely glared at Natasha, saying, “Don’t say a word. It’s not our place to speculate anymore than we already have.”

She shrugged, “Wasn’t planning on it, anyways.”

Turning back to Steve and Bucky, Rhodey sighed and said, “Look, Tony promised he’d be coming back. I don’t know when, but I can’t stay here all day since I have family I need to be with. I’m going to leave him a message on his phone, but you guys need to promise me at least one of you will be here when he comes back. I honestly don’t know what to expect from him at this point.”

Bucky raised an eyebrow. “So what’re you sayin’ then? Expect the unexpected?”

“Pretty much.”

“You say that like it’s a bad thing. Should we be expecting something bad?”

“Like I said Barnes, I honestly have no idea.” 

*****

This really, really, _really_ sucked.

Bucky didn’t necessarily live far away from his house, but it was still around two in the morning, dark, and cold, and his only way getting home was walking. Truth be told he probably could have called his driver to come and pick him up, but all that would be doing is getting him to Howard quicker. In other words, not helping.

Tony just wanted to go back to his friends and cuddle up next to Steve and Thor on the couch. He wanted to watch silly movies and play ridiculous board games. He didn’t want to get hurt again.

 _Fuck this_ , he thought, _hopefully one day all of this shit will be behind me and I’ll never have to worry about getting hurt by Howard again._

Hopefully one day he could be normal. (Was that ever going to be possible for Tony Stark though?)

Twenty minutes later, he arrived at the mansion’s front gates. He hesitated walking through, knowing his inevitable downfall was through the door, but he didn’t really have a choice at this point.

Creeping in through the door, he could feel his body shiver with a cold sweat. It was eerily quiet. He was nervous, damnit, why couldn’t Howard just show himself and get this over with?!

“…Jarvis? Are you there? I’m home…” He lightly called into the empty silence of the mansion.

Tony walked further into the house, his entire body shaking and his heart racing with pure fear. If he could die of anticipation, he would have dropped dead on the floor the second he walked through the gates.

Once he neared the door to Howard’s office, he gulped. He could hear voices through the door that was slightly open. Neither voice sounded too happy. Leaning close to the walls, he tried to make out what was being said.

“He is on his way, Sir—”

“That boy, what am I going to do with—?!”

“It is in everyone’s best interests if you calm down, Si—”

“Out of my way, Jarvis! I’ll bring that fool of a boy back here myself!”

He heard some fumbling; someone being shoved? Angry footsteps and a small voice calling out to stop. Tony froze in fear as he watched the door hit all of the way open only to reveal a seething Howard and a terrified Jarvis behind him. 

Howard, who had obviously not been expecting him to be standing right outside the door, froze to a stop the second he laid eyes on his son. His glare and rage deepened as soon as he did.

“Anthony…” Tony knew he was screwed. There was no way he was making it out of here alive. He slowly began to back away as the older man crept closer to him. “Howard.”

“How nice of you to come home. I was beginning to wonder if something had happened to you…”

Jarvis, bless him, made one last futile attempt to get Howard to back off. “Sir, please, Master Anthony is home. You know where he is now, there’s no more reason for you to be upset at him.”

“Nonsense, Jarvis. I only wish to speak with my son. Now get out of here before I decide to use force. You have no place here right now.”

Jarvis looked desperately between the two Starks, but knew he stood no chance at protecting the young genius. He looked to Tony, mouthing an “I’m sorry” with watery eyes. He shakily said “Yes, Sir,” to Howard and walked off.

Howard watched him go, and when he was out of sight, grabbed Tony by the collar of his shirt. Tony put his hands on Howard’s wrist in an unconscious attempt to lessen the pressure on his neck. “Come on, Anthony, we’ve got some talking to do.” Pulling the small teen into his office, he released his hold of Tony’s shirt when they were completely inside with the door closed. Tony heard a small click as the only door he could use to escape was now locked. He had no way out of this now. He was completely and hopelessly trapped.

“Do you know what you did wrong, boy?” Howard questioned.

Tony gulped. He tried his best to hide the quiver in his voice as he said, “Yes, I never came home and didn’t contact you or Jarvis explaining why.”

Howard smirked, chuckling. “Well, yes. You did do that. You really have no manners, do you? But that’s not why you’re here right now. Try again, Anthony. Go on.” He prompted darkly. The tone of his voice was so light, but all Tony could sense was malice and anger. It terrified him. Was Howard messing with him? Adding more emotional trauma to his already fucked up son? Tony would never know.

“Uh, I—”

“Starks do not mumble or stutter, Anthony!” Howard slapped him across the face. Tony refused to show any reaction to it in fear of a far worse punishment for showing weakness. “Go on, boy. Try again. What did you do wrong?”

There was a lump in his throat he couldn’t swallow down. It was like someone had tied together his vocal cords, preventing him from making a sound. He couldn’t speak, all he could do was stare at the ground as he tried to say something. 

_Anything, please_ , his mind begged himself, _I need to say something, why can’t I—?!_

The older Stark looked down at him in disgust. “Oh, what a shame. I guess I gave you a little too much credit. I thought you were smarter than that, Anthony.”

Howard crouched down, placing a gentle hand on top of the brunet’s head. Surprised, Tony looked up at him with wide, questioning eyes.

That gentle hand quickly grasped onto his hair, a strong grip threatening to lift him off of the ground. He yanked his son’s hair, pulling Tony’s head up as he slapped him across both sides of his face multiple times.

“This—”

“Is what happens—“

“When you misbehave—”

“You stupid boy!”

Howard said in between grunts as his slaps grew harder and harder. The more Howard slapped him, the more Tony ended up backing away in an attempt to lessen the blows. He ended up with his back to the wall, and Howard began to ram his son’s head into the wall by the grip he had on his head as he continued to hit his face.

Tony’s cheeks felt like they were on fire. His skin was red and irritated, and he felt the surprising trickle of blood run down his face. It only took him a second to figure out how.

_His rings. His god damn rings are cutting up my face every time he hits me._

All he could do is hope the cuts wouldn’t scar.

The frequency of the slaps slowly lessened, until they came to a complete stop and all Tony could hear was the sound of Howard’s panting. He didn’t let go of his hair.

Howard pulled his head up to face him, and again asked, “Did that remind you, boy? What did you do wrong?”

Tony’s voice was shaking. There was no hiding it. “I d-don’t know—!” A slap. “I h-honest to god don’t know! What did I do?!”

The older man tsked. “What a disappointment, Anthony. I seem to remember Jarvis getting a call from the school, saying you had a little _incident_. It turns out your time there hasn’t been going so smoothly. What happened again? You got into a fight a freaked out, throwing a temper tantrum like a _child_? In front of your entire school, no less! You fainted and Jarvis had to come and pick up your sorry self. You’re lucky that wasn’t me, boy. You would’ve been taught your lesson as soon as the door closed. I’m simply making up the lost time.”

Tony stared, his mouth agape. “H-how do you even know about that?! There’s no way Jarvis would have told you!”

“Oh please, I’m not a fool like you.” Howard walked over to his desk, picking up a small glass and taking a quick sip of the golden liquid in it. He put the glass down, grabbing his phone and holding the screen out to Tony.

“Word gets around. And considering you go to a high school with a bunch of normal teenagers, there’s always bound to be someone recording you or taking pictures.” On the screen was a video of the whole incident he had with the gang. He watched as he saw himself yelling at Steve, who had his arm wrapped around his wrist. As soon as it got to the part where Bucky made Steve let go and he fell, Howard pulled the phone away. “I questioned Jarvis about this little incident as soon as I found out. He can’t lie to me, Anthony. Pictures and videos are all over the internet. They’re all wondering what could have made the great Tony Stark react in such a way. 

“You know how I’m looking at this? How the hell could I have created someone so pathetic and weak? Stark men are made of iron! Have you forgotten? Do I need to beat it back into you?!”

Tony was too terrified to say anything. Howard’s voice had gotten louder and louder as the rant went on. He had no idea what to say. Nothing he said would let this end well for him. All he could do was desperately shake his head.

“Answer me, boy!” He again grabbed him by the collar of his shirt, but instead of slapping him, he punched him hard enough to send him flying towards the floor. His face landed on the hard wooden floor of Howard’s office, and all the teen could focus on was the throbbing in his skull.

“Stand up, Anthony! Prove to me that you’re not weak! Or are not able to do a task as simple as that?” A kick to his stomach. 

Tony cowered. He shielded his head as best he could with his arms as Howard began to punch and kick him in every possible spot. There’s no way he could stand up, no way he could prove to Howard that he wasn’t a weak coward.

Suddenly, the kicks stopped. Tony peaked an eye open to see Howard stand up straight and walk over to his desk. He downed the rest of his drink, and stared at the glass, seeming to contemplate over something.

He seemed to have made up his mind when he threw the glass to the ground, shattering it into small, sharp pieces. Crouching down, he picked up one of the bigger shards of glass and watched as it shined in the light of the office.

Howard walked back to Tony crouching over his small form. “I’ll ask one more time, Anthony. What did you do wrong?”

In an impulsive moment of defiance, Tony lashes out, saying, “You mean f-finally proving to the media that I have issues because of you? That you’re a fucked up man who beats his own son?

Howard stared at him, then threw his head back in laughter. “Oh, my dear boy. What a mistake you just made.”

With the glass still clasped him one hand, the older man leaned over and began resuming punches to his son’s stomach. Tony long gave up trying to be quiet and let out pained grunts at each hit. He could feel blood trailing its way down his face and arms from where the rings left cuts.

A large, powerful hand made its way around his frail neck. Tony’s eyes widened in panic, the movement scarily familiar to him. The hand tightened its grip, and suddenly, Tony couldn’t breathe.

He made choked, guttural sounds of protest as his airway was cut off. His hands grabbed at Howard’s arm, a vain attempt to pull it away from his throat. 

The man had an evil glint in his eyes, but Tony didn’t notice it as he was too busy having the life choked out of him. He clawed at the floor, Howard’s arm, his face, anything, but he still couldn’t lessen the grip on his throat. 

All he could focus on was _I can’t breathe, I can’t breathe, I can’t fucking breathe—_

He felt a sharp poke of pressure on his cheek. The shard of glass Howard had smashed.

This… this was Tony’s nightmare. Howard was actually going to do it. It wasn’t some dream, it wasn’t an image his mind had randomly created, it was a vision. His mind telling him, warning him even, that this is how he would die. 

With a hand still wrapped around his son’s neck, Howard lifted up the teen’s shirt slightly to reveal his already bruising stomach, and ran the shard across it. If Tony had enough air to scream, he would have. All that could come out was choked sounds of air and saliva from the back of his throat.

Blood seeped from the cuts, running down from his body to the floor. Howard moved the shard from his stomach to his chest, applying more pressure and making deeper cuts. 

By the point tears were running down his face, snot and spit and blood with it. He felt himself begin to fade away, and whether it was from the lack of air, loss of blood, or a combination of both, Tony couldn’t be sure.

A slap to his face woke him back up. “Don’t faint on me now, you fool of a boy. How much of a coward can you be, trying to ignore your punishment?!”

The hand finally, _finally_ released his throat. As soon as it did, Tony rolled over as much as he could with Howard’s weight on top of him and began to loudly cough and gag. He was completely overwhelmed by the pure, unadulterated pain and the sight of blood, so he threw up all over the floor. He hadn’t eaten much so it was basically only a clear bile, but it was enough to piss Howard off even more than he already was.

Slapping him across the face, the older man yells, “You idiot! Who do you think wants to clean up after you, you disgusting child!” Again grabbing the boy by his hair, he lifts his head off the ground and slams it back into the floor. Repeatedly. “You are a fool, Anthony! You are a disgrace to the Stark name!”

Stopping his current assault, the older Stark gets an idea. He smiles evilly to himself and stands up, stepping away from his son’s pathetic form. “Anthony,” he starts, “Take off your shirt and get down on your hands and knees.”

Tony freezes, unsure of what Howard plans to do with him next. He’s just so, so tired and wants nothing more than to just die right here on the floor of Howard’s office. 

Howard was getting annoyed and impatient at his son’s lack of movement, “Damnit, you useless boy, I’ll do it myself.” He crouches and manhandles his son, yanking his shirt over his head and doesn’t bother pulling it all of the way off, so it’s left covering the top of his head and eyes.

Grabbing Tony by his arms, he forces him roughly into a position so his back his facing up. Howard straightens up and undoes the buckle of his belt.

Tony hears the click, and stutters out a nervous “W-what are you doing?”

He hears Howard laugh as he says, “What needs to be done, Anthony.” He pulls the belt off of his trousers and lifts it up over his head.

He swings it down, hearing the satisfying slap of the leather on his son’s skin.

This time, without hands restricting his breathing, Tony lets out a gut-wrenching scream. He hadn’t expected Howard to ever, _ever_ go this far. 

The belt cracked on his skin again, this time harder. And then again, and again. Tony yelled, he cried and screamed for Howard to stop, but he never did. No matter how many times he cried out “ _No! Please stop! I’m sorry! I’ll behave, I promise! Just please stop!”_ Howard ignored him. 

The belt struck the delicate skin on his back over and over, each time with more power and less time between strikes. Tony stopped trying to count after 15.

The skin of his back eventually broke, leaking blood from the scars now on his back. Each hit now sounded more wet and sticky with warm blood. Tony couldn’t see as his eyes were covered by his shirt, so all he had to focus in on was the sound each time the belt whipped his skin and the warm, burning mess that his back had become.

Tony doesn’t know how long Howard was at it, but the hits eventually slowed to a stop. The only sounds left were his and Howard’s harsh panting.

The older man stood up, looking down at the pathetic, weeping form of his son. He leaned down, quietly saying to his son, “Never show weakness, Anthony. You are a Stark. Starks are made of iron.”

With one last push, knocking Tony off of his hands and knees to collapse on the ground, Howard left the room.

The aftermath was not pretty. Tony just sat there, a mess of blood, snot, and tears. His back felt like it was on fire.

His nightmare had come true. Howard had choked him, cut him, hurt him more violently than he ever had before. Maybe he didn’t kill him, but Tony wonders if perhaps, it would’ve been easier if he had.

The teen took a few minutes to just sit on the floor, catching his breath. He needed to stand up and get to the shower to clean off all of the blood and snot. He needed to get back to his friends, just like he had promised.

 _There’s no way they’d want to be friends with me if they saw me like this. Just like Howard said, I’m weak._

_A coward._

_Pathetic._

Shaking his head to chase away those thoughts, Tony tried to stand up. He felt like a newborn deer with how unsteady his legs were. Leaning up against the wall, he limped his way to the bathroom to get a good look at himself in the mirror. 

He pulled his shirt all of the way off and looked at himself in horror. Blood had dripped all over his body, his stomach and chest a mess of ragged cuts and bruises. His face and arms looked no better, now covered in small cuts and dried crimson.

He had yet to see the worst of it. Turning around to get a good look at his back, Tony’s eyes widen. His back was a mess. Dried blood covered the entire expanse of slashes across his back, and while most of the cuts were open and red with blood, others were just irritated and red from strikes not quite hard enough to break the skin. Every cut was a violent shade of red, puffed up and swollen. It hurt. (An understatement, but at this point Tony was too exhausted to try and come up with a better word to fit the burning pain.)

Removing the rest of his clothes, he carefully stepped into the shower and very slowly attempted to wipe off all of the blood. It burned and stung, and Tony has never quite felt pain like this before, but he was immensely grateful when he finished. He still looked like a mess, but at least he had one less thing to worry about.

All of the movement had caused some of the slashes to open up again and begin to seep more blood, so Tony quickly fished out a huge roll of gauze tape he kept for when Howard’s punches to his torso got out of hand, and wrapped it was tightly as he could without it being unbearably painful.

Throwing on sweatpants and a t-shirt, Tony took out his phone. His most recent text was from Jarvis saying Howard had forced him to go run some errands, some texts from Steve asking if he was okay, a bunch from Rhodey yelling at him to get his ass back to Bucky’s, and finally, a single voicemail, also from Rhodey. He opened it, listening carefully.

_“Hey, Tones. I hope you’re alright. I know you said you had to go and take care of something, but I know you. I know there was more to it than that. Just… please be okay, alright? Go back to James’ house when you finish, you promised. I won’t be there since I promised my mom that I’d spend the day with her, but everyone will be there. You promised Tony. Just please go back there. I’ll be sure to see you again before I have to leave, alright? Text me.”_

Tony turned off his phone, not wanting to deal with it. Frankly, if it were up to him, he would have crawled up into a ball and died right here on the floor, but of course it’s never his decision. He had promised, after all. 

_Fuck me,_ Tony thought tiredly as he grabbed his jacket and began the trek back to Bucky’s house.

*****

It was about 7:30 AM, and still no word from Tony.

Everyone else had woken up at about six, and Natasha had taken the liberty to explain the situation to the rest of them.

Of course they were all just as confused as Steve was, but they had no choice but to just sit here and wait for Tony to come back, or at least text one of them.

Rhodey had left at around seven, threatening them to look after Tony and make sure he “brings his ass back to this damn house or else.” Not like any of them had to be told to look out for the small teen; any of them would have done it anyways, with or without Rhodey’s input.

But alas, they were all still a bunch of teens. Clint began complaining about how bored and hungry he was, and when Bucky said they ate all of their snacks last night, offered the idea to go to the store to grab some more. 

Everyone wanted to go, eager to get out of the house and stretch their legs. Steve on the other hand, wasn’t as much. He was still too nervous about Tony. The blond had sent him multiple texts over the past few hours, but he had still yet to respond. 

“You guys go. I’ll stay here,” Steve said.

“Are you sure, Stevie?”

“I’m sure, Buck. One of us should stay here anyways, just in case Tony comes back.”

Nodding his head, Bucky accepted that answer. “You’re right. We’ll be back soon. I’ll be sure to buy your favorite.”

Smiling, Steve waved as they all walked out the door. “Thanks, Buck, I’m counting on you.”

It was much quieter now that everyone had left. Steve continued to anxiously check his phone and surf through the channels on the TV, but nothing seemed to quell the nervousness he felt in his stomach.

After about 20 minutes, Steve heard some shuffling by the door. He had assumed his friends had come back from the store, so he made his way to the door to help them unload. When the door opened, he was easily surprised to see none other than Tony Stark staring up at him.

“Hey, Steve. I’m back.” He said quietly. The teen’s voice sounded raw, as if he had lost some of his voice from yelling or screaming. Taking another look, even Steve had to admit he looked pretty awful.

“Tony… what’s wrong?”

Tony looked down, not answering Steve. That made the blond all the more nervous. What on earth could have happened? This subdued, small look didn’t fit the usually eccentric genius well at all.

“Tony?” He tried again.

Still looking down, Tony just shook his head. Steve heard his breathing start to deepen, as if he were trying to stop himself from hyperventilating or crying. 

The teen’s shoulders began to shake and he brought his hands up to his face. Tony fell to the ground on his knees, curling in on himself. Steve no doubt knew he was trying to stop himself from crying now.

Steve honestly had no idea what to do. He desperately wanted to help, but he had no clue where to start. Crouching down, Steve tried putting a comforting hand on the genius’ shoulder. “Hey, Tony, it’s okay. Look at me, tell me what’s wrong.”

Tony peaked through his hands, a small sob escaping his lips and Steve could make out the glistening in his eyes and the redness around them.

“It’s alright, Tony, what’s wrong?”

It seems the brunet couldn’t hold it in any longer. Covering his hands in his face and resting them on his legs, Tony started sobbing. He couldn’t stop, all of the pain, frustration, and stress finally making itself known. 

“Oh, Tony… C’mere.”

Steve pulled the smaller teen into an embrace. Tony froze for a second, but when he remembered that _this was Steve. Steve wouldn’t hurt him_ , he relaxed.

Tony practically threw himself into Steve’s arms, burying his face into the larger teen’s neck as he cried and sobbed.

Steve held onto Tony tightly, but when he felt the teen flinch when his hands tightened around his back, he held on more gently. He held on firmly, careful to keep his grip tight but gentle enough as to not startle the teen again. 

Steve rested his chin atop of Tony’s head as the genius sobbed into his shoulder, rubbing a soothing hand through his hair as he tenderly whispered, “It’s alright, Tony. Let it out, I’ve got you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope it was worth the wait! Things will get better, I promise.  
> Thank you so much for reading!


	13. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony was tired of fighting, tired of lying, and just flat out _tired_. He just wanted the pain to stop.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh boy. New chapter! 
> 
> Thank you everyone for being so patient and for the continued support! I appreciate it so much and honestly, reading everyone's comments makes writing this so much more worth it. It's a nice motivator!  
> (Also thank you for 12,000+ hits?! That's crazy! I never expected this fic would get that kind of attention, but I'm so grateful it has!)
> 
> The usual warning to some swearing, but other than that, you're safe! (For now).

Steve continued whispering sweet nothings and running a soothing hand along the young genius’ head even as his heart-wrenching sobs turned into quiet sniffles and silent tears. The blond had long since thrown out any of his confusions and questions to focus on just being there for his friend.

After about roughly 25 minutes, Steve assumes, Tony goes completely still and silent. Ordinarily, Steve would have freaked out, but after hearing the brunet’s steady breaths, he knew Tony had simply run out of his remaining energy and fell asleep in Steve’s arms. 

If this were any other day, and Tony hadn’t shown up and broken down, this whole situation would have had Steve blushing like a 14-year-old girl. Steve wasn’t blind; having a pretty person with soft hair and long eyelashes fall asleep on you seems like an amazing situation, and it probably would have been in different circumstances.

Steve released a breath he hadn’t realized he had been holding, and took the opportunity to look at the sleeping teen in his arms. He looked hurt and exhausted, and Steve felt a fire light under his belly as he took in the battered look of the genius’ face and neck. Though even through the redness around the genius’ eyes and the dark purple bags, Steve couldn’t deny how beautiful Tony looked in that moment. He traced his eyes along the delicate curve of his jawline down to the dip of his collarbones, then looked back up to his face. This reminded Steve an awful lot of when he and Bucky found the small teen napping away in the closet, looking so fragile and delicate and exhausted. He wonders what could have happened. Sighing, Steve ran a hand through silky brunet hair, reveling in its uncanny softness. 

He knew he couldn’t sit on the floor forever. Steve was honestly surprised his other friends had yet to return from the store, but perhaps it was a good thing as Steve felt like Tony wouldn’t have wanted the others to see him like this.

Eyeing the couch a few strides away, Steve decides against waking him up, instead opting to pick him up and let him continue to sleep on the couch.

He shuffles himself and Tony around, wrapping an arm around the teen’s back and hooking another arm under his knees. As he’s about to stand, Tony’s face scrunches up and he lets out a whimper of pain that breaks Steve’s heart. 

“Oh, Tony…” Steve isn’t sure what’s causing his friend pain, but he figures it’ll be better the sooner he gets him off of the floor. The whimpering only worsens as he stands up straight, and Steve begins to worry that there’s an injury somewhere he can’t see. Steve can see the obvious injuries he has on his face and neck, which worry him to no end, but there must be something even worse covered by baggy clothes. Steve respects Tony’s privacy, so he’ll have to wait until Tony wakes up to get any proper answers. He hates that all he can do at the moment is look at the visible injuries and wince. 

As he walks to the couch, his phones rings. Jumping lightly, careful of the small teen in his arms, he gently sets Tony down on the couch and with a final hand through his hair, goes over to his phone to find an incoming video call from Bucky.

Confused, he picks up, “Hello?”

“Steve! Steve! You really should have come with us! Look what we ran into!” Bucky is there on the other end, outside with a large grin on his face. He pans the camera away from himself to reveal Clint, who waves. Next to him is a large, fluffy dog happily wagging its tail, and a not so inconspicuous Thor sitting on the ground petting it.

“Bucky, are you saying you guys still aren’t back because you got distracted by a dog?” Steve’s lips quirk up in amusement, but the smile doesn’t quite reach his eyes.

“Of course! Look at him, Steve!” Bucky walks up to the dog, getting as close as he can as the dog lets out a happy bark and sniffs the phone.

Okay, so Steve can’t deny it’s cute, but… 

“Listen, Buck, Tony came back. I need you guys here.” He says sadly. He hates to ruin his friends’ joy, but the blond knows that something awfully serious happened to Tony, and he can’t help him on his own. 

“Hey, Steve? What’s that face for? Is Tony okay?” Steve doesn’t get a chance to answer, as Bruce cames into frame and snatches the phone away from Bucky.

Bruce shoos Bucky away, saying, “We’re on our way, Steve. Keep him safe while we get there, alright?”

“You didn’t even need to ask,” is Steve’s reply.

*****

Roughly ten minutes later, Tony is still fast asleep, unmoving with the exception of an occasional whimper.

Steve sat on the floor, with his back leaning against the couch and eyes closed. He really didn’t know what to do. Tony looked really hurt, and while Steve wants nothing more than to help, he has no idea where to start.

The blond opens his eyes when the sound of heavy footsteps starts outside. As he stands up, the door is pulled open to reveal his friends, all with varying degrees of worry across their faces.

Bruce, surprisingly, pushes past everyone else and makes his way towards Tony. Steve nearly pushes Bruce away out of an unexplained urge of protective instinct, but he fights the reflex back. Bruce crouches on the ground, quickly looking over all of Tony’s very visible injuries while the rest watch in a tense silence.

As he looked over the genius, Bruce breaks the silence and says, “Steve, what on earth happened to him?”

The blond looks down in shame, “I don’t know, Bruce. He—”

“You don’t know?!” Bruce shoots himself off of the floor, his face glowing red with anger. “What do you mean you don’t know, Steve?! You said he had business to take care of! This… this looks like more than a little fucking business!” Bruce angerly marched up to Steve, staring him in the eyes with his hands balled up into fists.

Bruce did have some anger issues, but they’ve been really good at avoiding any of his triggers lately. For this to set him off… Tony must be a lot worse off than Steve can tell. 

“Hey, Bruce, you need to tone it back. We’ll work through this, just like we always do…” Natasha had come up next to Bruce, placing a small hand on his shoulder as she talked him down. Just like she always was able to. 

Bruce looked between her and Steve, then closed his eyes and took a deep, calming breath. “You’re right, you’re right,” Another deep sigh, “Have you looked him over at all while we were gone?”

“I was focused on calming him down before he fell asleep, and I didn't want to do anything when he wasn't awake. I didn't know where to start. ‘m sorry, Bruce, I haven’t felt this helpless in a long time.” Steve sighed, desperately wishing he was stronger and more able to protect his friend.

“Yeah, I know.” Bruce sighed, casting a pained glance towards Tony. “How long has he been out?”

“Not long, he fell asleep right before Bucky called me.”

“Right. Well, we need to wake him up.” Bruce made a move towards the sleeping genius, but was stopped by Steve.

“Wait, Bruce! We should let him sleep, he looks really tired and he’s obviously been through a lot. When he first got here, he just started… sobbing. All I could do was hold him ‘till he fell asleep. We shouldn’t wake him up.” Steve said firmly.

Bruce looked understanding but unimpressed. “I get it, Steve. But like you said, he’s been through a lot. We don’t know what kind of injuries he has and I don’t want to break his trust by trying to treat him while he’s unconscious. What if he got hit in the head hard? We need to know what’s wrong with him.”

Steve really wanted to cry. Looking over at Tony, he knew Bruce was right. That didn’t mean he wanted to go through with it, though. Perhaps he was just scared to hear and see what had really happened.

“Now’s not the time to hesitate. I know the most about medical stuff, so leave the hard parts to me, okay?” Bruce said.

He didn’t wait for anyone to reply as he went to Tony and began to gently shake his shoulder. “Hey, Tony. We need you to wake up.”

No response other than the slight scrunching up of his nose. Bruce tried again, a little harder this time. “Tony.”

That seemed to do the trick. The previously unmoving genius suddenly shot up, a scream like sound caught in his throat with doe brown eyes tightly squeezed shut.

That was to be expected, Bruce supposed. He felt his heart ache for his friend, wishing the young brunet had stayed with them instead of leaving—he could have protected him better that way.

“Hey, Tony, It’s alright, it’s just Bruce. Can you open your eyes for me?” Bruce gently coaxed Tony out of his initial panic with a hand on his shoulder, telling him where he was and who he was with.

It only took a few minutes for the genius to release some shaky breaths of air and open his eyes. He looked around, his usually bright doe brown eyes looking awfully dull and puffy. “Bruce?” He said in an obviously raw and scratchy voice.

“There he is. Yeah, Tony, it’s me. How’re you feeling?” Bruce smiled down fondly at his friend.

Tony groaned, letting his head plop back down onto the couch. “Like I just had a wrestling match with a feral lion and then proceeded to get hit by a truck going 80 miles an hour.”

Chuckling to hide his worry, Bruce said, “That’s pretty specific. I need you to sit up for me so I can look you over and make sure you’re alright, okay?”

At that, Tony looked over at Bruce and then at the rest of the gang, suddenly very aware and alarmed. “Uh, no, not okay.”

That response surprised Bruce, but the more he thought about it, the more he came to realize just how little he knew about Tony and just how private of a person he was, excluding what the media thought they knew about him.

“Tony—” He began to reach out a hand, but was quickly cut off.

“Bruce, no—” Tony flinched away as if he had just been burned, and scooted over to the corner of the couch as far away from his friend as possible. “Stop—”

Bruce grabbed hold of the younger teen’s wrist in an attempt to prevent him from moving away. This action caused both teens to freeze, and they could do nothing but stare at each other as Bruce held onto his wrist.

A cough from behind him, presumably Thor, broke both teens out of their trance. Clearing his throat, Bruce let go of Tony and said, “Sorry, Tony. I wasn’t thinking.”

“It’s… it’s okay. You just surprised me, is all.” 

Tony knew he was in some serious shit right about now. With one look at him it’s clear as day that he had taken some sort of beating if the dark bruises forming on his face and neck were anything to go by. His entire body was throbbing, leaving no room for any feeling other than just pain. And _god damn_ , his back felt like it was on fire. Everything just really fucking hurt. 

He was really going to have to put his genius up to the test, because it’d take a lot of tricks to get himself out of this without anyone finding out about Howard’s shitty parenting techniques. 

Sighing, Tony sat back up, legs dangling off of the end of the couch. “Okay guys, I know this looks _really, really_ bad, but there is a perfectly logical explanation for everything, I swear.”

The second Steve, dear ol’ Steve looked down at him with his _damn puppy dog eyes_ , Tony knew he was screwed. He had never been a great liar, but damn it he was going to try!

With his ocean blue eyes in perfect action, Steve said, “Tony, how much do you remember after you first got here before you fell asleep?”

“Uh… good question. I—”

Realization washed over him like a damn tsunami. Why does falling asleep always make him forget things?!

“Okay Steve, listen, I again have a perfectly reasonable explanation for that.”

The blond didn’t look convinced. He frowned, saying, “Do you?”

“Of course I do! It’s a very logical one if I do say so myself—”

“Tony, you’re stalling,” Clint called from behind Steve. When Tony spared a glance in his direction, both Clint and Natasha nodded as Thor seemed to realize something himself. 

“Steven, did something happen before we arrived back here?”

Tony’s eyes widened. “Steve, c’mon, don’t kiss and tell on me!”

Steve looked at him sadly, before addressing the entire group as he said, “Tony came here a little over 30 minutes before you guys got back. He said hi to me and a second later he just… broke down; started sobbing and he fell to his knees. I didn’t really know what to do, so I just hugged him and let him cry into my shoulder until he fell asleep. Then Buck called, and here we are.”

Turning to Tony, Steve looked to Tony with eyes full of unshed tears, “Please don’t lie to us, Tony. I… I never want to see you cry like that ever again. I don’t know what happened to you after you left, but you don’t deserve to have to go through anything that makes you hurt like that. No one does.”

“Steve… I—I can’t say. I can’t.” Tony has never experienced this kind of love and support before, and he feels so horribly guilty that he can’t be honest to the people showing it to him. If word got out that Howard was abusive… Tony has no idea what would happen. If his friends found out now, it would only be a matter of time before the rest of the public did. Stocks would most definitely drop, and Howard would be _pissed_. Tony doesn’t know if he could survive the man’s rage that would surely follow. 

Unfortunately for Tony, Howard was one of the most influential businessmen in the country, so he has no doubts that the man could buy his way out of a bad reputation and any lawyers would be fools to go against him in court. Tony would be stuck with him whether people knew about the abuse or not. 

_No way can I deal with that_ , he thinks. It’s hard enough putting on the mask of a spoiled rich asshole when he was already a huge target; if anyone found out, all it’d do is make his life more difficult.

“You can’t what, Tony?” Bruce says to him ever so gently and for some reason he can’t quite explain, it pisses him off. If they kept pushing him like this, surely it’d only be a matter of time before he broke.

“I can’t tell you what happened, alright? If I’m being perfectly honest here, nothing important happened anyways. Just a series of unfortunate events.”

Scoffing in a way that Tony knew meant he didn’t believe a word out of the genius’ mouth, Clint said, “Unfortunate events? Tony, you look like someone tried to strangle you! Have you seen yourself in a mirror? If _I’m_ being honest, it looks pretty fucking important!”

Even as he tried to control his anger, Tony was a naturally very defensive and private person; he could feel the hold of his emotions start to crack.

“What would you know, Clint?! I’m trying to make this easier for everyone involved! I don’t want to fight about this!”

Clint retorted back, saying, “If you would just tell us what the hell happened to you, there wouldn’t be room for any kind of argument in the first place! This isn’t making _shit_ easier, you’re just being difficult! Old habits die hard, huh?”

Natasha’s head shot towards the dirty blond, and she slapped him on the shoulder harshly whispering to him, “Clint! Why would you say that?!”

He glared back at the red head, saying to her in an equally harsh whisper, “Say what?! I’m just being honest!”

“Bullshit, Barton,” she hissed.

“Okay, awesome, fuck you too,” Tony now stood up, and everyone could easily see how much he was straining his body. He clenched his shaking fists, and not even Tony himself knew if it was out of anger, fear, exhaustion, or whatever the fuck else was wrong with him.

“This is just _swell_ , isn’t it?” Tony said with sarcasm laced in his voice, “I know I’ve never exactly been your favorite person, Clint, but fucking seriously? I thought we were actually kind of becoming friends. Is that how you’ve always thought of me? You still think I’m nothing more than a difficult asshole?”

Looking around the room, Tony could see that everyone was on edge. He sighed frustratingly, saying, “Fuck this. I really don’t need to be dealing with this shit, I’m leaving.” Grabbing his jacket from the back of the couch, Tony stalked out of the house. No one dared to stop him.

The door slammed shut, and everyone left in the room was silent until Bucky spoke up. “Why the hell would you say that to him, Clint?”

“I don’t know. I fucked up.”

“You think?” Steve said in an icy voice. 

“I’m sorry, okay? I was angry and he wouldn’t tell us what was wrong or why looked like he had just gotten beaten up—it slipped out and you guys know I sure as hell didn’t mean it. He just… scared the fuck out of me. I’m worried about him.”

“I as well. Whatever happened to our friend… well, it didn’t look good,” Thor said, his cold gaze to the floor.

“Guys,” Natasha spoke up, “We can’t leave him out there. He’s hurt and we still don’t know how bad.”

“But there’s no way he’ll want all of us around him right now,” Bucky chimed in.

Natasha nodded, saying, “You’re right. We’ve caused him enough emotional stress to last a lifetime at this point, the last thing he needs is all of us bombarding him at once again.”

“Then only one of us should go after him, right?” 

“Bucky’s right, it’d be best if only one of us tries to talk to him right now. It should be me, since he’s hurt and I’m the only one with any kind of medical knowledge,” Bruce claimed. 

“You’re right. First and foremost we need to make sure he’s okay,” Natasha agreed. Both Clint and Thor nodded their heads in agreement.

“I say we send Steve,” Bucky spoke up.

“Buck?”

“Listen, we know Tony’s hurt right now, and we saw how he reacted to all of us. Maybe it was just because he was overwhelmed by the amount of people, but he trusts Steve the most. We haven’t known Tony long, but I doubt he’d let just anyone see him cry like how Steve said he did. And then to fall asleep in his arms? I think it should be Steve.” 

Bruce seemed skeptical. “But he’s hurt! He needs someone who will know how to treat him.”

“There’s no point if he won’t let you treat him, Bruce. Steve’s mom is a nurse, so he has a basic background in first aid. So long as he has Tony’s consent, he should be able to handle it and if things get out of hand, then you can come in.”

Bruce bit his lip, worry etched into his features. “Okay Bucky, fine, but only because I trust your opinion. Steve, I have a small first aid kit in my bag, let me go get it.”

Bruce fished the kit out of his bag and handed it to Steve. “If even the smallest thing seems off, please call me. You know I’ll be there.”

“Of course,” Steve said. “I’ll take good care of him. Plus my mom has tons of extra medical supplies around the house, so you know he’ll be safe there.”

“Let us know how it goes, alright? And tell Tony I’m sorry,” Clint said.

“He’ll know you didn’t mean it, Clint. We were all just a little stressed, I think.” 

“Still, just let him know.”

Steve nodded his head at Clint, and walked towards the door. “I’ll call you guys as soon as I can, okay? Try not to worry to much while I’m gone.

“And Buck? Thanks.” With that, Steve left his friend’s house and took off in the direction Tony went. 

*****

As soon as Steve stepped foot outside, he ran. 

He had no idea how far Tony had gotten or where he was even going, but all he could do was take his chances and hope to run into the teen. 

As he dashed past the park, something caught his eye. A head of brown hair poked out from the top one of the park benches, and Steve could recognize that Black Sabbath jacket from a mile away.

“Tony!” He called out.

He saw Tony’s head perk up, and watched as the brunet turned his head around to the source of the sound.

“Steve?” He said quietly.

“Yeah Tony, it’s me,” Steve said, taking in the exhausted look of his friend. He was curled up on the bench, with his knees pulled up to his chest and had most likely been resting his head on them before Steve called out his name.

“Why’re you here? I left for a reason, y’know.”

“I do know Tony, and I’m so sorry we pressured you like that. Clint especially, you know he’d never say anything like that. He was just worried about you, just like me.”

Tony sighed, running a hand through his hair. “I know.”

Steve took the moment to sit next to Tony, and put an arm around his shoulder to pull him into a hug.

The blond could tell Tony was debating if he should pull away or not, but ultimately decided to lean into Steve and rest his head on the larger teen’s shoulder.

“’m sorry, Steve,” He mumbled.

“I understand Tony, and I’m sorry too. I’m sorry we made you feel like you even had anything to apologize for. We— _I’m_ going to try my best to make sure I don’t hurt you like that ever again. I promise.”

Tony scooted closer to him after that, and they both took the time to just sit there and revel in each other’s company. 

After a few minutes of comfortable silence, Tony mumbled into his shoulder, “Steve, m’ back really hurts.”

“Your back?” Steve said worriedly, “What’s wrong with your back, Tony?”

“It hurts. M’ head is pounding, too. Everything hurts, Steve.”

“Okay, it’s okay Tony, I’ll take care of you. I have a first aid kit with me, and there are some more supplies at my house. Will you let me help you there?”

Tony was tired of fighting, tired of lying, and just flat out tired. At this point he just wanted the pain to stop, so he nodded his head into the blond’s shoulder.

Steve was beyond relieved that the brunet would finally accept some help, but he didn’t show his relief in fear that it would scare Tony away again. He gave one last reassuring squeeze before he broke their hug and stood up. Steve extended a hand towards his friend and when Tony took it, gave him a fond smile. 

Steve began to walk in the direction of his house and the entire time, never once let go of Tony’s hand even as he leaned into him again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! I'll try and get a new chapter out a lot faster this time around, but again thank you so much for the support! Let's hope it was worth the wait!


	14. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Coming to the realization that his friend had been in so much pain breaks Steve's heart.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter!! Again thank you so much for your continued support and patience!  
> (Also thank you so much for 1000+ kudos! My goodness that's absolutely incredible! I'm so grateful for everything this little fic has become!)
> 
> Warning: There are some descriptions of injuries in this chapter, as you probably expected. Read with caution!

The entire walk to Steve’s house was spent in a comfortable silence, Tony leaning into Steve’s side with the blond’s arm around his shoulder.

The silence was welcoming, because through his calm demeanor, Steve was freaking out. He had no idea what to expect from the brunet, but going off of everything that has happened over the last couple of hours, he knows it can’t be anything good.

With Tony, he really has learned to expect the unexpected by now but even then, he can’t help but be terrified for what’s to come.

But when he feels Tony nuzzle his head into his side and let out a content sigh, he finds himself unable to complain. His friend, no matter how much his actions can scare him, makes the blond beyond happy and he’s forever grateful that Tony wormed his way into his life, even though the circumstances in which all of their lives came together was less than ideal. He wouldn’t trade his friendship with Tony for anything. 

He wonders how he’s only been friends with the brunet for a few days but he’s already so incredibly fond and protective of him.

He wonders what this feeling is.

“Steve?” Tony mumbles into the blond’s shirt as they walk.

“Yeah?”

“I need you to promise me somethin’.”

Steve blinks down at the shorter teen. The air around them is still, and so quiet to the point that Steve is positive Tony can hear his heart pounding in his chest as he says, “What is it?”

Tony slows to a stop and takes a deep breath, “I need you to promise me that you won’t freak out when you… when you see. That you won’t do anything or tell anyone without talking to me about it first.”

“When I see? When I see what, Tony? What is it?” Steve says slowly, in an attempt to remain calm and not promptly _freak out_ over what the genius could mean.

“Please, Steve. Promise me.”

The blond isn’t sure what prompts him to nod his head and say, “Okay. I promise, Tony. I trust you.” But the relieved smile he receives from his friend answers that question for him. Tony doesn’t elaborate after that, simply leans back into Steve and puts his hand on the small of the blond’s back to make him start walking again.

Neither of them say anything the rest of the way. It’s getting harder to stay calm for Steve, but with a quick glance down, he can tell Tony is putting on a façade as well. He’d have to be blind to miss the whiteness of the brunet’s knuckles as he grips onto the bottom of Steve’s jacket or the way he’s controlling his breathing. This definitely won’t be easy for either of them.

Steve almost wishes the walk to his house took a little bit longer than it actually did, but before he knew it, he was standing on his front porch. Releasing the brunet’s shoulder, Steve crouched down to grab his house key from under the welcome mat and unlocked the door. Returning his arm to Tony’s shoulder, he guided his friend inside. 

“Here we are. It’s not much, but y’know, gets the job done.” Steve watched as Tony ran observant eyes around his home, seeming to take in every little detail of the small house. It almost made the blond a bit self-conscious, as he was certain Tony was used to a much bigger home with more expensive things.

Brown eyes met blue, and with a small quirk of his lips, Tony said, “It’s nice, Steve. Very… homey. I like it.” To Tony, this was so much nicer than the building he was forced to call home. Instead of long, bare hallways and blank, empty walls, there were pictures and small decorations all over; Tony found it very cozy.

That made Steve smile, and he gently said, “Make yourself at home. It’s been a long few hours, so let’s start with getting you some water, okay?”

“Yeah… that—okay.” Tony stuttered out. He mentally berated himself for showing such obvious signs of anxiety, but compared to the humiliation he knew was coming within the hour, he figured this was nothing.

Thankfully Steve didn’t say anything about his stuttering. He simply smiled and walked through a hall that led to what Tony assumed was a kitchen, as Tony himself decided to sit on the couch a few feet away from him.

Tony took the time by himself to take some deep breathes, attempting to qualm the anxiety and fear he could feel brewing in his gut and getting bigger by the second. He closed his eyes.

After what seemed like only a minute or two, Tony heard footsteps and opened his eyes to reveal unsurprisingly Steve, with a cup of water in each hand.

“Here Tony,” Steve said, holding out the cup of water in his right hand to the brunet. Tony accepted the cup gratefully, taking small sips in hopes of dragging out the time before they had to talk about what had happened to him.

Steve seemed to understand, or at least he didn’t say anything for a while. He simply sat on the small recliner chair to Tony’s right. They sat in silence for nearly ten minutes, both using the time to mentally prepare themselves. 

Eventually Tony set his empty cup of water on the table, clearing his throat to catch the blond’s attention.

Steve looked over to Tony, knowing they couldn’t and shouldn’t drag this out any longer. He stood up, and Tony followed suit. 

The blond placed a gentle hand on Tony’s shoulder and smiled at him, encouraging his friend to speak first.

Tony attempted to remain calm, but there was no mistaking the obvious shaking in his voice as he said, “Steve.”

“Tony.”

“Listen… I—this whole thing… it’s really complicated. I don’t know where to start,” the brunet admitted.

Steve smiled down at him again with sadness in his eyes, and to Tony’s joy, no pity. “You don’t need to explain anything to me right now, Tony. Just show me. Let me take care of you.”

Tony gulped, looking down with a sense of overwhelming nervousness. This was _really_ happening. He was about to expose his biggest secret to someone whose friendship once seemed so far out of his reach. 

Steve, bless his golden heart, could see just how nervous his friend was. He figured the best thing he could do for Tony was be the strong one. Tony needed his help; he had to stay calm for the both of them. “How about we take care of all of the cuts on your face first?” He started.

“Y-yeah. Okay.” 

Steve gently pushed Tony down back onto the couch. Tony hadn’t realized it, but when Steve had gotten them water, he had also gotten out all of the medical supplies he had promised. 

The blond crouched down, grabbing the bag of supplies and sat on the wooden coffee table in front of the couch, giving him a good angle to work with. Opening up the bag and taking out everything he thought he’d need, Steve turned back to Tony. 

“I’m just gonna start with cleaning everything up, okay? And I have a cream that will help your bruises heal a bit quicker, ‘specially the darker ones on your neck.”

Tony didn’t say anything to that, deciding to just go along with whatever Steve wanted to do. He nodded his head and closed his eyes, allowing Steve to get to work.

A few seconds after closing his eyes, Tony felt a large but careful hand cup his face and change the angle of his head. He kept his eyes closed, and soon after, the careful dab of water and various forms of healing medication began on his face. He felt gentle motions start from the cuts closest to his forehead, and eventually make their way down to his jaw. His face must have been more banged up than he had realized, considering just how much cream was being applied to his face.

The hand holding his jaw let go, and Tony heard some shuffling. With his brown eyes still closed, he felt the hand move from his face to his neck, mindful of the heavy bruising. 

As the minutes passed, Tony grew more relaxed. They were set in a calming rhythm of Steve carefully treated his cuts and bruises.

Perhaps the brunet was a bit too relaxed. He felt himself falling closer and closer into sleep, and he was positive he was going to fall over until a small nudge on his shoulder jolted him back to being fully awake and alert.

“Tony?” The brunet slowly opened his eyes to reveal a slightly worried Steve Rogers, blue eye staring into brown with concern.

“M’ bad. Jus’ tired, I guess.” Tony brought a hand up to rub at his eye, “Are we done, Steve?”

“With your face and neck, at least,” Steve sighed, afraid to know the answer to his next question, “You said something about your back?”

“Uh—did I?”

“Yeah, when I found you at the park. You said your back hurt, Tony.”

“Oh—you’re right, I did say that.” Tony began to sweat nervously, fidgeting. “I jus’ got pushed down hard and hit my back is all, Steve, I think we can skip it. If anything, my head…”

“You probably have a minor concussion, Tony, but we won’t know for sure until Bruce looks you over. Still, that can be fixed with lots of rest, but right now we need to focus on the things I can help with. I need to see your back Tony, even if you think it’s nothing. Please.”

Tony knew from the second he started walking back to Bucky’s house that he wouldn’t get away with lying anymore. He’d spent his entire life carefully crafting a mask and hiding his pain with attitude that he never really stopped to consider how being _exposed_ like this, being completely _vulnerable_ to another person would make him feel. He pursed his lips, thanking whatever god was at work that it was at least Steve who he had to show this side of himself to.

Looking down, the brunet let out a small chuckle, which was more life a small puff of air, but nevertheless still showcased how he finally was accepting the situation he was in. “No more lying, huh?”

With a sad, heartbroken smile, Steve said, “I’m afraid not, Tony.”

Tony lightly nodded his at that, finally coming to the realization that he won’t have to lie to Steve anymore. That knowledge made him almost happy, finally being able to share such a vulnerable piece of himself with someone else. 

“I’m sorry, Steve.”

Steve raised a single eyebrow, “Why are you sorry? I promise you that I _want_ to do this for you, I want to help you, Tony.”

“I know Steve, I know. I’m just… sorry for what I have to show you. No one should have to see their friend like this.”

“If it means keeping you safe, I’d gladly do it a hundred times over.”

The brunet, now close to tears, stood up and motioned for Steve to do the same. “Still. I’m sorry I had to lie to you.” 

Steve didn’t say anything to that, as Tony carefully started to lift the hem of his shirt up. Instantly, the mood of the room changed as Tony lifted the shirt above his head and Steve’s eyes focused to the old bandages messily wrapped around the brunet’s torso. 

The blond was left speechless. The pieces that Steve seemed to be missing were finally starting to fall into place as he recounted Tony flinching when he had held him as he had cried.

“…Tony, what on earth happened?”

The brunet couldn’t look his friend in the eyes. Couldn’t bring himself to look at the pained face he was positive Steve was making because of _him_ , because of his own mistakes. 

Steve was afraid of what he was about to see. The younger teen’s torso was covered in white bandages, wrapping all around it from top to bottom, even wrapping along his shoulder for addition support. Whatever was under those bandages wasn’t going to be pretty, yet Steve still couldn’t figure out what kind of injury would need that amount of bandaging.

 _Tony’s been walking around with that all day, maybe he just over-wrapped his injuries?_ Steve tries to reason with himself.

Steve hears Tony mumble another small “sorry” as the brunet starts to gently remove the bandages from around his body. It didn’t take long for Tony’s entire upper body to be exposed and for the once white bandages to be discarded carelessly to the floor. 

_Is that blood?_ Steve quickly thinks as he looks at the remains of the bandages, but his attention is swiftly taken elsewhere as he takes in the look of the brunet’s stomach and chest.

Steve felt his eyes begin to water, both out of horror and also white hot _rage_. Not at Tony, but whatever evil _bastard_ had the guts to hurt his friend.

The blond’s eyes racked up and down Tony’s front, taking in the sight of dark, grotesque bruising all over, the worst being on his stomach, and the deep, precise cuts that have long been closed off by dried blood. There were very few places of Tony’s front that was left untouched.

He could tell Tony had attempted to clean himself off, but there was no mistaking the evidence of dark patches of crusted blood that had once dripped down his chest and stomach. 

Steve looked up into Tony’s eyes. The blond’s own eyes were glossy with tears that have yet to be shed, but Tony’s eyes just looked plain sad. Not sad for himself, but sad for Steve. Sad for the fact that he had to show this side of himself to someone else. 

“Tony—”

He was cut off by the small, silent shake of the brunet’s head. Tony said nothing as he slowly turned around, revealing his back exposed to Steve.

Steve couldn’t control the gasp that left him. He had never seen anything so horrific.

The brunet’s small back was covered in cuts ( _Slits? They didn’t look like normal cuts. What could have caused them?_ ), all of varying sizes, lengths, and depths. Some went deeper into his skin than others, but the skin surrounded each cut was a violent shade of red, puffy and swollen with irritation. There was dried blood all over his back, and some slits looked ready to start dripping crimson again with even the slightest touch.

Tony had been walking around all day like this. All day, his friend had to deal with a burning, horrific pain that he wasn’t able to tell anybody. Steve was horrified but also somehow, so incredibly amazed by how strong the brunet was. There’s no way he wasn’t in pain. He was in pain as he cried in Steve’s arms, as he slept on the couch, as he argued with the gang, as he stormed out of the house… Steve couldn’t imagine the kind of pain Tony must be experiencing. How was he still standing?

Steve tried to stop it, he really did, he was supposed to be the strong one right now, but try as he might, he couldn’t stop the tears as the began to fall down his face. 

The realization that his friend had just been in so much pain, and how he was too afraid to tell anyone broke Steve’s heart.

“Tony…” 

Steve couldn’t help himself. Stepping towards the brunet, careful of his injuries, he hugged Tony as tightly as he could without hurting him. This time Tony didn’t hesitate in hugging him back.

“Tony…”

“Steve, please don’t. Just… just help me clean and disinfect everything. Just for now. Please?”

Steve nodded his head, though a bit reluctantly, “Okay. That part can wait. I’ll grab some stuff to clean your back with, alright?”

Tony nodded his head, watching Steve walk away. When he returned only a couple minutes later, he had a small red bucket filled with water and a white washcloth in hand. 

Silently Steve motioned for Tony to sit back down and got to work. Wetting the washcloth, he began scrubbing down the brunet’s back as gently as he could. It was difficult, considering there were some patches of dried blood he needed to clean off, but he tried his best.

The blond quietly apologized every time he went over a spot a bit too hard and caused the younger teen to hiss in discomfort. Each time, he’d receive an equally quiet “s’okay” in response. 

After Steve cleaned Tony’s back as well as he could, he applied some healing cream all over his back and after doing the same thing to his front, wrapped a fresh bandage around the brunet’s torso.

“Okay, I think we’re done. Any other injuries we missed?” Steve said.

“No, that’s it,” was Tony’s quiet reply.

As much as Steve wished they didn’t need to have this conversation, he knew it had to be done. Steve wouldn’t be able to let it go and if he was, he’d be a pretty lousy friend.

“Tony, what happened to you? Who on earth did that to you?”

“Steve, I—I can’t… it’s not important who did it, okay? It’s not.”

“Tony, those were not normal cuts. Those were not normal injuries. Don’t think I didn’t notice the fact that some of those bruises weren’t new. Whoever’s been hurting you, I doubt this was the first time. I want to help make it the last.”

Tony didn’t say anything. It broke Steve’s heart all over again.

“Tony, please, who did this to you?”

The brunet looked up into Steve’s eyes and shook his head. “Steve, I can’t tell you. Please… please don’t make me. One day, I’ll tell you. I promise. But please, please just not right now. Not today.”

Steve couldn’t find it in himself to be frustrated. He wouldn’t break Tony’s trust by pressuring him into answering something he wasn’t ready to talk about; and the fact that he wasn’t ready was completely understandable.

“Okay. Not today. I’m holding you to that promise, though. We’re going to have this conversation again.”

“Thanks, Steve.” Tony said, looking just slightly less stressed than he did a second ago.

“If you can’t tell me who… can you at least tell me how? Tony, those weren’t normal cuts. Your back… how was it—? How did they—?” Steve struggled to find the right words.

“How’d he do it, you mean?” Tony understood what he was asking. “A belt.”

 _A belt_. All over again, Steve was horrified. Tony had been—whipped. Someone had held him down and had raised a belt to strike him. They did strike him. And from the look of his back, it had gone on for a while. It wasn’t a few cracks. 

Steve swallowed. “What—what about on your chest and stomach?”

“He, uh, threw a beer bottle on the ground and used one of the shards like a knife.” Tony said, knowing there was no longer a point in hiding these kinds of details.

Steve’s eyes started to water again. He didn’t want to think about it, the mental imagine he had created from Tony’s words. All he could picture is someone holding Tony down as he screams and sobs, cutting into soft skin and laughing as blood pours out of him. The image made him sick.

There wasn’t much else Steve could do right now. Shaking his head in an attempt to rid himself of the bloody image in his head, he took a quick glance towards the clock.

It was only early in the afternoon, but Steve figured Tony wouldn’t want to go anywhere else today. At this point he probably just wanted to relax or sleep, and if Steve could help him with either of those things he would.

“I think we’ve had enough drama for one day, don’t you think?” Steve said in an attempt to lighten the mood. He’s pretty sure it didn’t work for either of them. Tony simply nodded.

“Do you want to just stay here? We don’t have to go anywhere or talk to anyone. We can just relax, watch a movie or something. Everyone else can wait.” Steve said.

Tony couldn’t agree quicker. He was really grateful Steve wouldn’t try and force him to tell the entire gang about what he had shown Steve. And he trusted Steve to keep his promise about not telling anyone yet.

“You read my mind, Steve. I’m exhausted,” Tony says lightheartedly.

Steve took his eyes away from Tony’s to look at his still exposed chest. Taking another glance towards the dirty, discarded shirt on the ground, he figured Tony wouldn’t want to put it back on after he had just been cleaned.

“Do you want to borrow some clothes? I can lend you a shirt and some pants and clean the stuff you have now,” Steve offers, “I figure you don’t want to fall asleep in a dirty shirt.”

“Thanks Steve, that’d actually be really nice,” Tony said. The brunet was glad for the offer, seeing as his shirt was dirty with dried blood on the inside and his pants had blood stains on them. They definitely weren’t the ideal lounging clothes. 

“Cool, I’ll go grab you somethin’. No guarantee they’ll fit as well as what you’ve got now, but it’s better than clothes with blood on them.” 

It didn’t take long for Steve to run to his room and grab some clothes for the both of them. “Here, Tony. If you walk down to the end of that hall there’s a bathroom to your left, change there. I can change in my room.”

“Thanks Steve,” Tony says, walking off in the direction of the bathroom as Steve ran back to his room to change. 

Closing the door to the bathroom, Tony finally gets to really look at himself in the mirror for the first time since his last encounter with Howard. He felt his heart pounding as he took in the heavy bruising on his neck; he’s surprised Steve was able to remain as calm as he had. If the roles had been reversed… Tony’s not sure how he would have reacted. He’s glad he had Steve to help him, at the very least.

He’s also glad the worst of his injuries are covered by the extensive bandages around his upper body. He really didn’t need to see the aftermath of Howard’s rage again. He was able to feel it pretty damn well, which is an understatement, but if he could avoid having to see the injuries as well, he would.

He struggled slightly to pull Steve’s shirt over his head, wincing as he felt the burning pain of stretching his arms above his back.

As he expected, the shirt was _huge_ on him, the hem of the shirt falling a few inches above his knees, but if he thought Steve would’ve had anything that fit him, he’d be crazy.

He debated if it was worth wearing the pants, because as much as he hated to admit it, Tony wasn’t a tall guy, but Steve on the other hand, was an extremely tall guy. He figured it was worth a shot. 

There’s no way the pants would stay up on their own, and Tony had to roll them up as far as possible to avoid tripping, but he supposed it was better than walking around exposed. 

The brunet exited the bathroom, walking back into the living room where Steve was waiting, now changed into more comfortable clothing. “Thanks for the clothes, Steve,” Tony said as he sat on the couch right next to Steve.

“Y-yeah. Anytime.” Today has been a rollercoaster of emotions for Steve, and for some reason seeing his friend in his clothing, watching as he struggled to keep the sleeves from falling off his shoulder or keeping his pants up, made the blond feel all warm and fuzzy inside. 

“So what’re we doing?” Tony questions, trying to ignore the embarrassment of having his friend’s clothes swallow him whole.

“I’ve got some movies here, you up for any of them?” Steve holds up various CD cases. He doesn’t have nearly as many as Bucky, but he’s still got some classics with him.

“Hm, sure. How about the Titanic? I don’t think I’ve gotten my fill of crying today,” the brunet laughs. Normally, Steve would be upset at Tony for trying to downplay everything that had happened today, but seeing him laugh, albeit a bit strained, erases any of those thoughts. 

He missed seeing him laugh. 

Tony offered to set up the TV as Steve went to grab a blanket and some snacks. They just had a movie night, but Steve figured this extra time between him and Tony was well deserved. Their other friends could wait until tomorrow.

Once everything is set up, the two of them climb onto the couch together, this time Tony not even waiting for Steve before he settles into his side, resting his head on the blond’s shoulder. Steve tilts his head to rest onto of Tony’s as he wraps them both in the blanket and hits play.

Despite the whirlwind of emotions and discoveries they had gone through today, it’s moments like this that makes everything worthwhile. Steve has never been more content than he is now, the weight of his friend's head on his shoulder as he commentates his thoughts throughout the movie, fluffy brown hair tickling Steve’s cheek as they lean into each other. Steve would do anything to retain this small amount of happiness for Tony.

For the second time that day, Steve wonders what this feeling is.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There you have it! Again thank you so much for your patience! I try my best to get chapters out when I can, and it's always an awesome feeling to release a new one!
> 
> As you've probably noticed, this fic has some slight Steve/Tony implications. This is kind of a pre-relationship type thing, but in no way is this the main focus of the story! The main focus is Tony and the abuse he must endure, but of course, it's only natural he gets closer to the people there to help him.
> 
> Anyways, thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed! There's more to come!


End file.
